Sunday, March 18, 2007
Guest workers' Gulf Coast dream unmet - L.A. Times
Mexican and Indians say housing and pay for post-Katrina labor was not as billed, but employers cite a lack of skills.
When Sabulal Vijayan saw the advertisement in a newspaper in his native state of Kerala in southwestern India, he thought he had found the solution to his family's financial problems. The ad offered laborers job opportunities in the U.S. Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina under a guest worker program. Vijayan said the ads... promised welders and pipe fitters a 10-month work visa, followed by permanent U.S. residency. ... So he used his life savings and money borrowed from relatives to pay $15,000 to people who identified themselves as Signal's recruiters. ... But when Vijayan arrived in Pascagoula, Miss., in December, his living quarters were cramped bunk houses where two dozen laborers shared two bathrooms. Then the company cut the workers' wages from $1,850 a week to $1,350 or $950, depending on the position, Vijayan said. When he and other workers complained, they were fired without notice. ..."I cannot go back to India because I cannot pay my debt," Vijayan said ... He was so distraught that he recently slashed his wrist in a suicide attempt. His left arm is still bandaged. ...
Mexican and Indians say housing and pay for post-Katrina labor was not as billed, but employers cite a lack of skills.
When Sabulal Vijayan saw the advertisement in a newspaper in his native state of Kerala in southwestern India, he thought he had found the solution to his family's financial problems. The ad offered laborers job opportunities in the U.S. Gulf Coast region after Hurricane Katrina under a guest worker program. Vijayan said the ads... promised welders and pipe fitters a 10-month work visa, followed by permanent U.S. residency. ... So he used his life savings and money borrowed from relatives to pay $15,000 to people who identified themselves as Signal's recruiters. ... But when Vijayan arrived in Pascagoula, Miss., in December, his living quarters were cramped bunk houses where two dozen laborers shared two bathrooms. Then the company cut the workers' wages from $1,850 a week to $1,350 or $950, depending on the position, Vijayan said. When he and other workers complained, they were fired without notice. ..."I cannot go back to India because I cannot pay my debt," Vijayan said ... He was so distraught that he recently slashed his wrist in a suicide attempt. His left arm is still bandaged. ...
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