21st Century slavery in Mississippi

Submitted by bizgrrl on Wed, 03/19/2008 - 05:25.

More than 100 guest workers carrying signs that said "I Am a Man" and "Dignity" walked off the job at a Mississippi shipyard last week to protest conditions they liken to slavery.

Shipyard workers from India have filed a lawsuit that says,

"in the wake of Hurricane Katrina more than 500 Indian men were trafficked into the United States through the federal H2B guest worker program to work for Signal at shipyards in Pascagoula and Orange, Texas. Lured by promises of permanent work and a chance at legal immigration, the men gave up their jobs in India and went into debt to finance fees as high as $20,000 each. They then allegedly had their passports and visas held by recruiters who told them that changing their minds about working for Signal could bring legal action and even physical harm."

Katrina? Gulfcoast? Disenfranchised workers? Does anybody know what year it is? Does anybody care?

( categories: )

Andy Axel's picture
Katrina? Gulfcoast?

Katrina? Gulfcoast? Disenfranchised workers? Does anybody know what year it is? Does anybody care?

Too bad they weren't investors in Bear Stearns. Then they'd get the love.

__________________________________

"The radical of one century is the conservative of the next. The radical invents the views. When he has worn them out the conservative adopts them." -M. Twain

Terry Troll's picture
The South gonna rise...

You must bear in mind that many Louisianans would prefer antebellum.

Yeah, and many East

Yeah, and many East Tennesseans would still prefer women to be barefoot and pregnant.

It just can't be that way anymore and corporate America should be stopped from abusing workers.

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.