Indian Workers End Hunger Strike, Rally at Justice Dept. … for Justice

by James Parks, Jun 11, 2008

Indian guest workers who began a hunger strike for justice in April today broke their fast  after receiving strong support and help for their struggle from members of Congress and dozens of human rights, religious and union groups. 

The workers ended their hunger strike by eating bread at a rally at the Justice Department attended by many of their supporters.

The welders and pipe fitters had been lured from their native India to the United States with promises of green cards and good jobs at Signal International Shipyard in Pascagoula, Miss. Once there, they found themselves being held in modern-day forced labor, victims of a human-trafficking scheme under the guise of the H-2B guest worker program. 

Paul Konar, a hunger striker who was hospitalized June 5 after 23 days on a water-only fast, says:

I’m not really worried about my health. Our victory and our success is what’s really burning in my heart right now. Prior to the hunger strike, Congress had not heard about our stories, our struggles, the pain we are feeling. The hunger strike gave a voice to everything we are fighting for. 

Some 550 workers at Signal International have demanded investigations by Congress and the Justice Department into their claims that they were charged up to $20,000 each for false promises of green cards, only to work and live in deplorable conditions. They say the company forced them to live in severely overcrowded trailers and charged each of them $1,050 a month rent. Many say they were paid substandard wages and some were not paid at all.

The workers want to be able to stay in this country while their charges are being investigated, but as yet the Justice Department has not responded to their request. The law allows certified victims of human trafficking to have a “continued presence” in the United States while their charges are being investigated. The workers say they are being penalized for speaking out against oppression. 

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and 18 other members of the House signed a letter calling on Attorney General Michael Mukasey to

immediately grant continued presence to the guest workers trafficked to from India to the United States on H-2B visas for work in the shipyards of Signal International.

After the rally today, a delegation of workers delivered a copy of Kucinich’s letter to officials at Justice and asked for a meeting to discuss their continued presence in the United States to participate in the official investigation into their charges. Justice officials promised to meet with them soon.

Kucinich, who has committed to hold hearings on the abuse of these workers, told the rally:

In effect, these workers were trafficked under the federal guest worker program and held captive by U.S.-based corporations.….Workers trafficked into the United States should be able to place their faith in the United States justice system. Today, we must make sure we don’t betray their faith in us.

In addition to the rally at the Justice Department, Jobs with Justice (JwJ) held solidarity actions in 10 cities across the country. JwJ members sent 9,000 letters to Justice officials last week supporting the guest workers.

At the same time, 24 union, civil rights, human rights, religious and immigrant rights groups also wrote to Mukasey seeking justice and continued presence for the workers. Among the groups signing the letter were the AFL-CIO and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

AFL-CIO General Counsel Jon Hiatt said the workers deserve to see justice.

The U.S. Justice Department has so far refused to conduct any meaningful investigation that includes the workers themselves. I want to make it clear that the AFL-CIO will continue to support the Signal workers in their struggle for justice.

According to the FBI, human trafficking generates an estimated $9.5 billion worldwide each year and is the third-most profitable industry in the world, after arms and drug trafficking, and that it affects 12.3 million people.

The CIA estimated in 1999 that 50,000 women and children were trafficked into the United States each year. That figure was subsequently revised downward, but other estimates place the number closer to 100,000. 

Bricklayers President John Flynn says this is an issue that affects all workers:

It’s a question of exploitation. We’re concerned about maintaining living standards and wage standards for American workers, but with this kind of exploitation, it undermines standards for all workers in our country. And we believe all workers need to be supported.

At the rally today, author Barbara Ehrenreich apologized to the guest workers, saying that as an American she was “embarrassed and ashamed” at the way they have been treated.

            You came to help, and you have been treated as criminals.

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