US Firms Accused Of Abusing Thai Workers

[webfact]

US firms accused of abusing Thai, Indian workers

WASHINGTON, April 20, 2011 (AFP) - US authorities on Wednesday filed charges against two companies on charges they exploited hundreds of Indian and Thai workers who earned a pittance and were forced to stay in decrepit conditions.

In what it called its largest ever human trafficking case in the farm sector, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said that contractor Global Horizons brought in some 200 Thai men on promises of high-paying jobs.

The Thai men were sent between 2003 and 2007 to farms in Hawaii and Washington state where they were crammed into rooms infested with rats and insects and faced verbal and physical assaults, the federal agency said.

The men had paid insurmountable fees to enter the United States but were stripped of their passports and kept separately from non-Thai workers who had more tolerable conditions, the suits alleged. Authorities learned of their plight after a Thai community center in Los Angeles got involved.

"Human trafficking is one of the most insidious forms of discrimination," said Anna Park, a Los Angeles-based attorney for the federal commission.

The commission "is committed to holding employers accountable for benefiting from the modern day enslavement of workers from other countries," she said in a statement.

The federal agency also sued companies running the eight farms where the Thai men worked, saying they "not only ignored abuses but also participated in the obvious mistreatment, intimidation, harassment and unequal pay of the Thai workers," according to a statement.

The companies are Captain Cook Coffee Co., Del Monte Fresh Produce, Kauai Coffee Co., Kelena Farms, MacFarms of Hawaii, Maui Pineapple Farms, Green Acre Farms and Valley Fruit Orchards.

In a separate case, the federal agency filed charges against Signal International, a marine services company based in Alabama, for allegedly demeaning treatment of 500 Indian employees.

The lawsuit said that the men were forced in live in fence-enclosed, segregated housing where they were referred to by number instead of name.

The Indian employees were obliged to spend $30 each day for lodging and food that were "intolerable, demeaning and unsanitary," a statement said.

The Indians were brought to the United States by a separate entity that is not part of the lawsuit.

The federal commission said it would seek back pay and compensation for the Thai and Indian workers, along with measures from the companies to prevent future discrimination.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2011-04-21

[Soutpeel]

One would hope the Thai authrorites reciprocate this action with regards the thousands of Burmese, Cambodian and Lao's citizen's working in similar conditions in Thailand.....

[fiercesnake]

One would hope the Thai authrorites reciprocate this action with regards the thousands of Burmese, Cambodian and Lao's citizen's working in similar conditions in Thailand.....

Well noted. Thai officials can become easily indignant to scream discrimination when something happens to Thai, but when Thai treat other people from "lesser" cultures with similar harsh conditions it seems perfectly acceptable! Oh but that's OK they're just dirty Cambodians or Burmese.

Perhaps all could learn some humility of how we should really treat each other.

Edited April 21, 2011 by fiercesnake

[angmo]

Pointing a finger at Thailand does not distract from the fact that a supposedly developed country that touts freedom and equality does not walk the walk.

[BigSkip]

At least when it is identified, it's corrected, not brushed under the carpet or completely ignored.............................................

[jybkk]

Pointing a finger at Thailand does not distract from the fact that a supposedly developed country that touts freedom and equality does not walk the walk.

Absolutely.

It always makes me cringe when Thailand's only answer is: "But XXX does it too... and YYY is even worse!".

Let's not do the same here.

[Jawnie]

Pointing a finger at Thailand does not distract from the fact that a supposedly developed country that touts freedom and equality does not walk the walk.

Angmo: you've got it exactly wrong. It says the US government has charged a PRIVATE company with the abuses...it is not the US government which perpetrated the abuses. Global Horizons is a private company, operating illegally.

It is the very fact that the US is a developed country with the rule of law that is bringing this situation to an end. The US absolutely "walks the walk", much more so than most countries.

[LucMee]

Bait and switch slavery... With practically zero chance of any of the bigwigs going to jail. A slap on the wrist fine and a wink, wink, don't get caught again is about all that will come of this. The company's other operations won't be looked into... And I wouldn't put it past them to have another few hundred stashed at farms in adjoining counties.

[khaowong1]

Pointing a finger at Thailand does not distract from the fact that a supposedly developed country that touts freedom and equality does not walk the walk.

Angmo: you've got it exactly wrong. It says the US government has charged a PRIVATE company with the abuses...it is not the US government which perpetrated the abuses. Global Horizons is a private company, operating illegally.

It is the very fact that the US is a developed country with the rule of law that is bringing this situation to an end. The US absolutely "walks the walk", much more so than most countries.

Good job Jawnie.

[Soutpeel]

Pointing a finger at Thailand does not distract from the fact that a supposedly developed country that touts freedom and equality does not walk the walk.

Has Thailand gone after the people on the Thai end of this operation ?...very naive to think there are no middle men in Thailand who have facilitated getting the Thai nationals to the US....would suspect the Thai authorites have done nothing, lets just sweep thins under the carpet and blame the Farang end of this operation...

In this case the US authorities are walking the talk....action is being taken/ charges have been laid...

What ever happened to the case of the eastern european engineer who had his passport confiscated by his company in Thailand, company never paid him etc etc.....what happened to the Thai company ?.....nothing....but believe the BiB where talking about charging the victim with working without a WP.... ...but no charges laid against the company as far as I am aware

[reason1]

For me its a tough one; I am not for slavery, I am very much against the slavery, but even more so against the abject poverty I have seen in the world over the years.

I just wonder as the poverty seems to continue with stupid wars killing many over money/resources some might even be better off under slavery - lousy world doesn't get much better any faster.

[CPT]

The high fees and unrealistic salary expectations originate on the Thai side from the less than savory recruiting agencies. Lets hope the investigation is thorough and includes cooperation between Thai and US authorities to make a real effort to prevent this sort of thing and punish those responsible.

I haven't seen any pics of the living conditions but I wonder if they are much different from what these workers came from. It wouldn't make it right but a bit of perspective is useful.

[fred110]

Infested with rats and insects? Sounds like free meals are provided!

[FOODLOVER]

Pointing a finger at Thailand does not distract from the fact that a supposedly developed country that touts freedom and equality does not walk the walk.

Has Thailand gone after the people on the Thai end of this operation ?...very naive to think there are no middle men in Thailand who have facilitated getting the Thai nationals to the US....would suspect the Thai authorites have done nothing, lets just sweep thins under the carpet and blame the Farang end of this operation...

In this case the US authorities are walking the talk....action is being taken/ charges have been laid...

What ever happened to the case of the eastern european engineer who had his passport confiscated by his company in Thailand, company never paid him etc etc.....what happened to the Thai company ?.....nothing....but believe the BiB where talking about charging the victim with working without a WP.... ...but no charges laid against the company as far as I am aware

They offered him 100,000 baht to drop the case and said he was there on his own free will for the last umpteen years.

[FOODLOVER]

Infested with rats and insects? Sounds like free meals are provided!

oh no you didunt!

[Nowhereman60]

I wouldn't be surprise if the owner of these companies were either Thai or Chinese.

[asiawatcher]

Scum bags are in every society worldwide. Plantation owners and operators, being isolated rural communities have always been impervious to law unless they have higher moralistic owners who uphold decency. Who knows - but you would think in the US, the penalties for this would be quite harsh and rightfully so.

[exbelg]

and who in THAILAND earned a lot of money deceiving those people to go there in the first place ????

[elshaheen]

The U.S. of ………………is accusing their firms of abusing people from other countries?

"The pot calling the kettle black" is an idiom used to accuse a person of being guilty of the very thing they are pointing out. Thai’s themselves have a similar saying also ‘ ว่าแต่เขา อิเหนาเป็นเอง (wâa dtàe kăo ì-năo bpen eng) ("[Enau] accuses others, but he himself is guilty")

[Finlaco]

Pointing a finger at Thailand does not distract from the fact that a supposedly developed country that touts freedom and equality does not walk the walk.

Speak with Thai Officals and you'll learn that Thailand is a 'developed' country.

[dunkin2012]

good let 'em know we care....

[softgeorge]

Pointing a finger at Thailand does not distract from the fact that a supposedly developed country that touts freedom and equality does not walk the walk.

It is not just say Americans, French or Aussies in thier repective countries that are exploiting Thais. Thais residing overseas do exactly the same to thier own. I have a close friend who is studying English in Melbourne. She found a job working in a Thai restuarant on her own after canvassing a number in the CBD. She works 8 hours per day 7 days a week for (56 hrs) $6.00 per hour cash in hand, ($336 per week) no sick leave, annual leave, weekend, public holiday, overtime penalties or superanuation contributions. An ilegal activity on behalf of the Thai owners.

The federal minimum wage (Aust) is currently $15.00 per hour or $569.90 per 38 hour week $27,355.20 annual (before tax). Casual employees covered by the national minimum wage also get at least a 21 per cent casual loading. An employer must not contravene a term of a modern award or a national minimum wage order. Suspected contraventions will be investigated and enforced by the Fair Work Ombudsman. A contravention of a term of a modern award or a national minimum wage order may result in penalties of up to $6,600 for an individual and $33,000 for a corporation.

On average, the minimum wage Thailand 2011, has now increased by nearly 7 percent, bringing the national average to 176.3 baht (app $5.30 AUD) per day.

(Source: The Thailand Board of Investment's Investment Review publication)

In relation to my friend and the other 3 thai students who work for the same person thier Thai employer probably thinks hey I'm Thai and your Thai and I am paying you more than the average Thai wage. If my friend was not staying with her sister and my aussie mate husband she could not simply survive on this in Australia. Her employer probably thinks what are the authorities going to do to me if I get caught exploiting my workers, give me a $6,600 fine? still well in front. I guess you can take the Thai out of Thailand but not the thai corruption and ways of doing things out of the Thai.

What my friend also doesn't understand is that if she is earning an income in Australia she is required by law to declare it and if she gets caught could also be prosecuted.

[dananderson]

Kudos to the Thai's living in the states that prodded the EEOC investigation. I would like to see much more compensation than what is suggested and obviously more than a slap on the wrist to the offenders.

Edited April 21, 2011 by dananderson

[craigt3365]

Israeli citizen Mordechai Orian, 45, spent Wednesday night at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu and may have to remain in custody, because now U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials want to keep him behind bars in a deportation case, sources said. ICE has filed an “immigration detainer” against him, sources said.

ICE had allowed him to remain free pending his appeal of an order from July 2009 deporting him back to Israel. The deportation order was based on five false statements Orian listed on federal forms to bring in foreign workers, claiming he was a U.S. citizen when he wasn’t, a federal prosecutor said. Orian would face a hearing in an immigration court before being locked up on immigration charges.

Orian and five others have been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to commit human trafficking, after allegedly luring 400 farm laborers to Hawaii and the mainland from Thailand and then mistreating them and not paying them properly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Doesn't seem like a fine, upstanding individual....

[dananderson]

Israeli citizen Mordechai Orian, 45, spent Wednesday night at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu and may have to remain in custody, because now U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials want to keep him behind bars in a deportation case, sources said. ICE has filed an "immigration detainer" against him, sources said.

ICE had allowed him to remain free pending his appeal of an order from July 2009 deporting him back to Israel. The deportation order was based on five false statements Orian listed on federal forms to bring in foreign workers, claiming he was a U.S. citizen when he wasn't, a federal prosecutor said. Orian would face a hearing in an immigration court before being locked up on immigration charges.

Orian and five others have been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to commit human trafficking, after allegedly luring 400 farm laborers to Hawaii and the mainland from Thailand and then mistreating them and not paying them properly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Doesn't seem like a fine, upstanding individual....

Agree. I would not be suprised if this was just the tip of a very large iceberg.

[bbradsby]

Pointing a finger at Thailand does not distract from the fact that a supposedly developed country that touts freedom and equality does not walk the walk.

uh, did you read the original post?! Not that the USoA is perfect by any stretch, but the alleged offenders are multi-national CORPORATIONS, not the GOVERNMENT... The US government is actually prosecuting them, in effect "walking the walk," you'd have to agree, judging by your yardstick.

[craigt3365]

Pointing a finger at Thailand does not distract from the fact that a supposedly developed country that touts freedom and equality does not walk the walk.

uh, did you read the original post?! Not that the USoA is perfect by any stretch, but the alleged offenders are multi-national CORPORATIONS, not the GOVERNMENT... The US government is actually prosecuting them, in effect "walking the walk," you'd have to agree, judging by your yardstick.

With all the lawyers there, an immigrant...or "abused" worker...will have lots of help on their side. More so than in pretty much any other country in the world. Unless of course they are lucky enough to in the UK...from what I have read.

Here's a great one. A woman purchased a Winnebago motorhome. Took it to a tailgate party at a football game for her first trip out. On the way back home, she got hungry, so put it on cruise control and went back to the kitchen to make a bite to eat. She's doing this solo while driving down the highway at 55MPH.

Obviously, she ends up in a wreck with the motorhome going off the road. She sued Winnebago because the owner's manual (which I am sure she never read) didn't specifically say you could not leave the driver's seat while it was in cruise control. She won and got over 1MM USD. Sorry to go off topic, but it shows what can be done in the US with a good lawyer (who is getting 70% of the award!).

[kmj]

Pointing a finger at Thailand does not distract from the fact that a supposedly developed country that touts freedom and equality does not walk the walk.

uh, did you read the original post?! Not that the USoA is perfect by any stretch, but the alleged offenders are multi-national CORPORATIONS, not the GOVERNMENT... The US government is actually prosecuting them, in effect "walking the walk," you'd have to agree, judging by your yardstick.

With all the lawyers there, an immigrant...or "abused" worker...will have lots of help on their side. More so than in pretty much any other country in the world. Unless of course they are lucky enough to in the UK...from what I have read.

Here's a great one. A woman purchased a Winnebago motorhome. Took it to a tailgate party at a football game for her first trip out. On the way back home, she got hungry, so put it on cruise control and went back to the kitchen to make a bite to eat. She's doing this solo while driving down the highway at 55MPH.

Obviously, she ends up in a wreck with the motorhome going off the road. She sued Winnebago because the owner's manual (which I am sure she never read) didn't specifically say you could not leave the driver's seat while it was in cruise control. She won and got over 1MM USD. Sorry to go off topic, but it shows what can be done in the US with a good lawyer (who is getting 70% of the award!).

Urban Myth and not true http://www.snopes.com/autos/techno/cruise.asp

[Tanaka]

Pointing a finger at Thailand does not distract from the fact that a supposedly developed country that touts freedom and equality does not walk the walk.

It is not just say Americans, French or Aussies in thier repective countries that are exploiting Thais. Thais residing overseas do exactly the same to thier own. I have a close friend who is studying English in Melbourne. She found a job working in a Thai restuarant on her own after canvassing a number in the CBD. She works 8 hours per day 7 days a week for (56 hrs) $6.00 per hour cash in hand, ($336 per week) no sick leave, annual leave, weekend, public holiday, overtime penalties or superanuation contributions. An ilegal activity on behalf of the Thai owners.

The federal minimum wage (Aust) is currently $15.00 per hour or $569.90 per 38 hour week $27,355.20 annual (before tax). Casual employees covered by the national minimum wage also get at least a 21 per cent casual loading. An employer must not contravene a term of a modern award or a national minimum wage order. Suspected contraventions will be investigated and enforced by the Fair Work Ombudsman. A contravention of a term of a modern award or a national minimum wage order may result in penalties of up to $6,600 for an individual and $33,000 for a corporation.

On average, the minimum wage Thailand 2011, has now increased by nearly 7 percent, bringing the national average to 176.3 baht (app $5.30 AUD) per day.

(Source: The Thailand Board of Investment's Investment Review publication)

In relation to my friend and the other 3 thai students who work for the same person thier Thai employer probably thinks hey I'm Thai and your Thai and I am paying you more than the average Thai wage. If my friend was not staying with her sister and my aussie mate husband she could not simply survive on this in Australia. Her employer probably thinks what are the authorities going to do to me if I get caught exploiting my workers, give me a $6,600 fine? still well in front. I guess you can take the Thai out of Thailand but not the thai corruption and ways of doing things out of the Thai.

What my friend also doesn't understand is that if she is earning an income in Australia she is required by law to declare it and if she gets caught could also be prosecuted.

And she will most likely also be deported and blacklisted.

[cusanus]

Israeli citizen Mordechai Orian, 45, spent Wednesday night at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu and may have to remain in custody, because now U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials want to keep him behind bars in a deportation case, sources said. ICE has filed an "immigration detainer" against him, sources said.

ICE had allowed him to remain free pending his appeal of an order from July 2009 deporting him back to Israel. The deportation order was based on five false statements Orian listed on federal forms to bring in foreign workers, claiming he was a U.S. citizen when he wasn't, a federal prosecutor said. Orian would face a hearing in an immigration court before being locked up on immigration charges.

Orian and five others have been indicted by a federal grand jury for conspiracy to commit human trafficking, after allegedly luring 400 farm laborers to Hawaii and the mainland from Thailand and then mistreating them and not paying them properly.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Doesn't seem like a fine, upstanding individual....

Agree. I would not be suprised if this was just the tip of a very large iceberg.

That was basically my life as a US citizen for 55 years. Should have asked me about it, first. Life may not be easy in Thailand, but it won't get any easier in the states.