Foreign Students Protest Job Conditions at Hershey's

[femmocrat]

Foreign students protest job conditions at Hershey's
By Associated Press
Friday, August 19, 2011


HERSHEY -- Foreign students brought to work at a candy warehouse protested conditions and pay for a second day on Thursday, chanting on Chocolate Avenue under streetlights shaped like Hershey's Kisses, as the State Department said it was investigating.

More than 100 students gathered in touristy downtown Hershey, home to the nation's second-largest candy maker, arguing that they were employed under the guise of a cultural exchange but toil away in what amounts to a sweets sweatshop.

"All we can do is work and sleep," said Godwin Efobi, 26, a Ukrainian student originally from Nigeria.

The students, who protested with a bullhorn, leaflets and a petition they planned to present to Hershey executives, complain of hard physical labor, steep pay deductions for rent that often left them with little spending money, and no cultural enrichment. They said their complaints were met with threats of deportation, prompting some to look for help.

Read more: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_752260.html#ixzz1VX3Iv4cq

[JPZenger]

1. Update

It is worth noting that Hershey hired a national company to run the warehouse and they hired a third company to hire the employees. Hershey did not hire these students. The three companies agreed that they: a) will not use foreign college students in the warehouse after this summer, and b) will pay to send these students on a trip to cultural attractions in the US this summer.