Exchange students walk off the job at McDonald's

[umbertino]

by: Sean Kitchen
March 7 2013


One would think that someone working more than eight hours a day would be compensated fairly 127 years after the Haymarket affair, and one would think that packing workers into slums, dormitories, or basements would have been settled 106 years after Upton Sinclair released The Jungle, but for many living in this country these experiences are still a reality.

These realities are still prevalent because we live in a country that still allows the managerial aristocracy to exploit workers on a daily basis. These realities are still prevalent because the United States has some of the worst labor laws in the modern industrialized world. These realities are still prevalent because WE have stood on the sidelines while our unionized labor force has been shrunk to the lowest density since 1929 - the run up to Great Depression.

Last Sunday at the Harrisburg Quaker Meetinghouse, I had the chance to sit and listen to a small group of college students from Latin America and Asia talk about the American Dream they have been experiencing as part of their J-1 student visa "cultural exchange." Today those same students and more are walking off their jobs in protest against the exploitative working and living conditions with which McDonald's has provided them with. Their American Dream was a far cry from that fantasy of the "Shining City on the Hill" that President Ronald Reagan made famous during the 1980's.

Just like the international students who rallied against Hershey in September 2011, these students came to the United States through the State Departments J-1 student visa program, and they organized with the National Guestworker Alliance - a non-profit advocacy organization based out of New Orleans - to expose their horrid working and living conditions. Instead of the Hershey Corporation, the culprit this time is a local McDonald's chain in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.

Two of the students who did most of the speaking at the meeting were Fernando, from Peru, and Allyson, from Paraguay (I will not use their last names so their identities remained concealed). Their experiences relating to their exploitation on the job may differ, but they and their fellow co-workers are experiencing the same horrid living conditions. Fernando, who is a communications major in his home country, was the first of three students to who shared their stories at the meetinghouse. In his home university, he stated that he saw a flier hanging on a bulletin board advertising an opportunity to study and work abroad in the United States. He told everyone in the room that he had to pay around $3,000 to join this program. He noted that other students had to pay between $3,000 and $5,000 to participate in the same program To make matters worse, he took out a loan from close family members so he could join the J-1 program.

From there his story of optimism and hope quickly turned downhill.

The living conditions for the students who are in this program are horrid. As Fernando and Allyson were explaining, there are at least six to eight male and female students living in the basements of three houses, and all of these houses are owned by McDonald's managers. In exchange for living in these houses, the roommates have to pay $2,000 each, which is automatically taken out of their paychecks. There are no rooms; they are all living in an open single room, and they are sleeping on paper-thin bunk bed mattresses.

As Fernando kept on telling us, "We're paying $2,000 to live like this? To live inside the bottom of a basement?" Throughout their session, Fernando was hesitant when he kept saying "home," because he knew that he wasn't living in the home, the managers, who locked the workers inside the basement, were enjoying all the luxuries of the home they were trapped in.

As Allyson explained, the working conditions for these students weren't much better; in fact, they were reminiscent to the days of the early Industrial Revolution. To get to work on daily basis, some of the students had to spend a good portion of their trip, maybe 10 to 15 minutes, walking along the curb of a major interstate, but if they were to get a ride to and from work from their employer, that ride would be automatically deducted from their paycheck - money they never got to see. While at work, these "students" were often forced to work from 6 or 7 in the morning to as late as 11 at night with only one 30 minute to hour break. And to top it off, these students were paid minimum wage for all the hours they worked, despite working well over 40 hours per week, qualifying them for overtime pay.

Allyson recalled a story of these exploitative working conditions when she worked an eight-hour shift, and stopped working after that. She showed defiance to her managers by refusing to work, demanding that she'd be taken back to her house - or her basement.

Fernando told us about a story of retaliation from his employer. When he spoke out against the company's tactics, the manager gave Fernando a four-hour work week. When Fernando was explaining that this story to the room, he asked, "how am I suppose to pay a $300 rent when only working four hours in one week?"

(story continues after video)

To keep the workers divided, Allyson reported that half of the students were forced to work an 11 pm-7 am overnight shift. An old tactic used by managers to keep the workers from organizing each other, for sure. But these students are finally ready to tell McDonald's, "ENOUGH!"

Along with speaking out against their employer, one of the main objectives that the two National Guestworker Alliance organizers, Nelson and Sarah, was to allow these students to see what the real America looks like - to meet Americans who would not stand for these kind of abuses. After this work action, the two organizers are planning on taking the students on a speaking tour where they will go to universities and communities between Camp Hill, PA and Washington, D.C. to share their experiences with others. When the meeting at the Quaker House ended, one of the activists explained that the America they witnessed is the America millions across this country witness on a day to day basis, by working 50, 60, and sometimes 70 hours a week without proper overtime pay just so that they can make a living. Even though these students were complete strangers to everyone inside that room, an unbreakable bond of solidarity was built between everyone that afternoon.

This article was reposted from NH Labor News. Sean Kitchen is the assistant director of the Raging Chicken Press.

Photo: Exploited exchange students protest McDonald's abusive working conditions. RagingChickenPress.org



http://www.peoplesworld.org/exchange-students-walk-off-the-job-at-mcdonald-s/

[Shabibilicious]

What an awful story.......to think you can't trust a flyer on a bulletin board from a foreign country.  If I were them, I would take my American education and high-tail it back to South America.  I'm sure the McDonalds in Peru and Paraguay treat their employees much better.

 

GO RV, then BV

[dog53]

I dunno im thinking a furnished basement beats a hut everytime.

I mean Ok I can eat big macs or I can eat Rats.

Im gonna go with the big mac

[ErnMor]

I bet thy went straight to the Govt. for a hand-out. I had to deal with same conditions,when I was young,with a family.I found an extra job.I did'nt svivel,and whine. I worked hard,and was rewarded. Later I was told [by the Unions ]to slow down,I was making others look bad.LOL!! LOL!! ,I ca'nt make anyone look bad. The slothful,someone owes me a living [workers?]]are the only ones that can make themselves look bad. No pity from Me. P.S. Union left Me alone after I[ talked] to a few . I hate it when someone trys to intimidate Me.

by: Sean Kitchen
March 7 2013


One would think that someone working more than eight hours a day would be compensated fairly 127 years after the Haymarket affair, and one would think that packing workers into slums, dormitories, or basements would have been settled 106 years after Upton Sinclair released The Jungle, but for many living in this country these experiences are still a reality.
 

 

**** Deleted Body of Quote ****
 

Along with speaking out against their employer, one of the main objectives that the two National Guestworker Alliance organizers, Nelson and Sarah, was to allow these students to see what the real America looks like - to meet Americans who would not stand for these kind of abuses. After this work action, the two organizers are planning on taking the students on a speaking tour where they will go to universities and communities between Camp Hill, PA and Washington, D.C. to share their experiences with others. When the meeting at the Quaker House ended, one of the activists explained that the America they witnessed is the America millions across this country witness on a day to day basis, by working 50, 60, and sometimes 70 hours a week without proper overtime pay just so that they can make a living. Even though these students were complete strangers to everyone inside that room, an unbreakable bond of solidarity was built between everyone that afternoon.

This article was reposted from NH Labor News. Sean Kitchen is the assistant director of the Raging Chicken Press.

Photo: Exploited exchange students protest McDonald's abusive working conditions. RagingChickenPress.org



http://www.peoplesworld.org/exchange-students-walk-off-the-job-at-mcdonald-s/

Edited March 9, 2013 by Markinsa
Removed Body of Quote

[reveldog]

I dunno im thinking a furnished basement beats a hut everytime.

I mean Ok I can eat big macs or I can eat Rats.

Im gonna go with the big mac

that big mac could be made with rat  ,  

 

Mc Ds  meat is not USDA , there meat does not get inspected 

 

but still it is a good burger 

[Shabibilicious]

Welcome to McDonalds.....now serving Whaaburgers and french cries.     I don't know of one young single mother in my town, employed by the local McDonalds at minimum wage, who has been offered housing by the management.  

 

GO RV, then BV 

[tellmewhen]

umbertino the local commy sympathiser

[Thaiexpat]

HMMMMMM....Young, foreign girls, locked in my basement, doing what I say....HMMMMMM.....Ah, I mean DAMN YOU, Mickey D's! How dare you treat those young kids like that!!!!

[FlintNPebbles]

okay...maybe they are whiners...maybe not. Human trafficking occurs in the United States. I realize this is not quite the same scenerio but when someone is lured to another place with the promise of a good experience to better enrich their lives, I would believe they deserve better than being locked into someone's basement and being charged an awful lot for rent. And being forced to work for long hours without breaks.

 

Maybe it's all made up for the shock effect but what if it is all true. Would any of you want your child visiting a foreign land to be treated like that? To not have a pleasant experience? Just because they are foreigners does not mean they do not work hard. I have met many young adults with the foreign work exchange programs. They came to help on the farm and learn farming as we do it here in the US and not a one would have deserved to be treated as less than a human. Caging them in a basement with no privacy....worse than a lot of people treat their dogs.

[gymrat76541]

Beats the heck out of the Mexican trafficers who charge big fees, have you jump the fense, stick u in a semi trailer and drive you who knows where ad drops you off, without legal papers.

[rico1]

by: Sean Kitchen

March 7 2013

One would think that someone working more than eight hours a day would be compensated fairly 127 years after the Haymarket affair, and one would think that packing workers into slums, dormitories, or basements would have been settled 106 years after Upton Sinclair released The Jungle, but for many living in this country these experiences are still a reality.

Photo: Exploited exchange students protest McDonald's abusive working conditions. RagingChickenPress.org

 

**** Deleted Body of Quote ****

http://www.peoplesworld.org/exchange-students-walk-off-the-job-at-mcdonald-s/

What I don't like is having someone that hates the US telling every one how bad our country is. If it is so bad the DON"T COME HERE!

 

When I was 12 I was working in the strawberry fields in Oregon during the summer getting up a 0400 to get the bus to the fields by 0530 so that I could make 12 cents a pound picking berry's ( and I can say that it is harder doing that than flipping a burgur). Then I was working it a car wash at 14 making 85 cents an hour.

 

I didn't think I was being abused. But then I have earned everything that I have and it hasn't been given to me by the government. Although because I make a good wage now the government has no problem taking my money and giving it to whiners that don't have the ambition that I had at 12 years old.

Edited March 9, 2013 by Markinsa
**** Deleted Body of Quote ****

[SgtFuryUSCZ]

***///

Ska-rew your commie rag and the krap it spews ... the US has excellent labour laws.

 

if these "kids" were too stupid to call a cop,

hail a cab to their embassy,

walk into a church,

invest a dime and call somebody,

 

then they are TOO STUPID to be here in the 1st place!  F-em for being morons.

[Jaxinjersey]

What I don't like is having someone that hates the US telling every one how bad our country is. If it is so bad the DON"T COME HERE!

 

When I was 12 I was working in the strawberry fields in Oregon during the summer getting up a 0400 to get the bus to the fields by 0530 so that I could make 12 cents a pound picking berry's ( and I can say that it is harder doing that than flipping a burgur). Then I was working it a car wash at 14 making 85 cents an hour.

 

I didn't think I was being abused. But then I have earned everything that I have and it hasn't been given to me by the government. Although because I make a good wage now the government has no problem taking my money and giving it to whiners that don't have the ambition that I had at 12 years old.

I had similar work experience when I was 15 to 16 years old.   I grew up in farm country and worked every farm job you could imagine... at most making $1.00 per hour... 10 to 12 hour days!   I was thrilled and proud... and saved the $300 I needed to buy my first car... which I also had to rebuild to have ready for when I got my driver's license at 17!

[The Machine]

Thats a really sad story of what happened to those people, I hate hearing about things like that .... why big corporations that make billions a year in profits take advantage of people is beyond me but I guess thats exactly how they make their profits

 

 

There's a McDonalds in Dublin that pays the equivalent of $19 per hour !!! + overtime @ 1.5 after 39hours + free food (if you can stomach it).....

[ErnMor]

okay...maybe they are whiners...maybe not. Human trafficking occurs in the United States. I realize this is not quite the same scenerio but when someone is lured to another place with the promise of a good experience to better enrich their lives, I would believe they deserve better than being locked into someone's basement and being charged an awful lot for rent. And being forced to work for long hours without breaks.

 

Maybe it's all made up for the shock effect but what if it is all true. Would any of you want your child visiting a foreign land to be treated like that? To not have a pleasant experience? Just because they are foreigners does not mean they do not work hard. I have met many young adults with the foreign work exchange programs. They came to help on the farm and learn farming as we do it here in the US and not a one would have deserved to be treated as less than a human. Caging them in a basement with no privacy....worse than a lot of people treat their dogs.

If these people were lied to, they have a ligitimate gripe.Slavery in any form is abhorent. What amazes me,is that some people feel a job at McDonalds should pay enough to pay rent,eat,own a car,have a cell phone,cable TV,air conditioning,nice cloths.Low paying jobs,are just that,low paying jobs,requiring minimal skills,and in a lot of cases little effort.There will always be poor people.It should be up to the individual,through education,and hard work to make sure they are not one of them.No healthy,sane person should be given a Free Ride.Whiners want more without contributing more. You want more? Do something besides feeling sorry for yourself. We are now getting a hard lesson on how socialism truely works. It SUCKS.People have zero insentives to excel at anything.

[Muleslayer]

If these people were lied to, they have a ligitimate gripe.Slavery in any form is abhorent. What amazes me,is that some people feel a job at McDonalds should pay enough to pay rent,eat,own a car,have a cell phone,cable TV,air conditioning,nice cloths.Low paying jobs,are just that,low paying jobs,requiring minimal skills,and in a lot of cases little effort.There will always be poor people.It should be up to the individual,through education,and hard work to make sure they are not one of them.No healthy,sane person should be given a Free Ride.Whiners want more without contributing more. You want more? Do something besides feeling sorry for yourself. We are now getting a hard lesson on how socialism truely works. It SUCKS.People have zero insentives to excel at anything.

Stone cold straight up truth!

[FlintNPebbles]

If these people were lied to, they have a ligitimate gripe.Slavery in any form is abhorent. What amazes me,is that some people feel a job at McDonalds should pay enough to pay rent,eat,own a car,have a cell phone,cable TV,air conditioning,nice cloths.Low paying jobs,are just that,low paying jobs,requiring minimal skills,and in a lot of cases little effort.There will always be poor people.It should be up to the individual,through education,and hard work to make sure they are not one of them.No healthy,sane person should be given a Free Ride.Whiners want more without contributing more. You want more? Do something besides feeling sorry for yourself. We are now getting a hard lesson on how socialism truely works. It SUCKS.People have zero insentives to excel at anything.

Agree. If they honestly thought they could live the American dream with a job at McDonalds, and are complaining that they were lied to....then yes, they need to move on or go home.

I have worked 2 jobs to make ends meet when my ex dead beat husband spent all his paycheck at the bar. He is a salesman and thought the best place to make contacts was the bar I guess and buying everyone drinks would equal a sale for him somewhere. 

No whining and complaining from me from working 2 jobs, just did what I had to do and moved on. Now if someone told me I had to work at McDonalds and then charged me an exuburant amount for rent and locked me the basement in my time off....Yup...would have complained

[cajunrescuemedic]

I'm sure it's not McDonald's fault, but the local people who have the franchise there.  What they're doing is exactly what they're doing in countries such as Kuwait and Dubai.  I've seen it over there with my own eyes.  They'll never be able to catch up paying their "debt".  So basically, they've become slaves.