Saturday, August 27, 2011

America’s Sweatshop Diplomacy

By Jennifer Gordon, New York Times
August 24, 2011

ACCORDING to the State Department, the J-1 visa Summer Work Study program, which allows foreign students to work in the United States for a few months, is meant to promote “lasting and meaningful relationships” between the students and Americans.

Try telling that to the more than 300 J-1 holders who went on strike at a Hershey’s distribution plant in Pennsylvania last week, with the support of the National Guestworker Alliance. These engineering majors and future lawyers from places like Turkey, Moldova and China came hoping to travel and speak English, but spent the summer packing and lifting heavy pallets of Kit-Kats, often on overnight shifts and for meager pay. [...]

Read the full op-ed:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/opinion/americas-sweatshop-diplomacy.html

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