Support the Sit-In at Hershey's Factory by Student Guestworkers!

JUSTICE AT HERSHEY'S

Jobs With Justice Action Alert

August 17, 2011

On August 17th, hundreds of student guestworkers from around the world were joined by unemployed American workers and labor leaders in a factory sit-in at the Hershey's Chocolate Company packing plant in Pennsylvania.

The students paid $3,000-$6,000 each to come to the U.S. this summer for what they thought would be a cultural exchange program through the State Department's J-1 visa. Instead, they found themselves packing chocolates at the Hershey's plant in deeply exploitative conditions. After automatic weekly deductions for rent in company housing and other expenses, they net between $40 and $140 per week for 40 hours of work.They talked about their struggle and asked for our support at the JwJ national conference last week. [...]

Read the full action alert:
http://www.jwj.org/hersheys/index.html

Foreign Students in Work Visa Program Stage Walkout at Plant
By Julia Preston, New York Times
August 17, 2011

PALMYRA, Pa. — Hundreds of foreign students, waving their fists and shouting defiantly in many languages, walked off their jobs on Wednesday at a plant here that packs Hershey’s chocolates, saying a summer program that was supposed to be a cultural exchange had instead turned them into underpaid labor. [...]

Read the full article:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/18/us/18immig.html