Foreign students walk off Hershey’s factory job in protest

Hundreds of foreign students on a State Department cultural exchange visa program walked off their factory jobs in protest on Wednesday.

The J-1 visa program brings foreign students to the country to work for two months and learn English, and was designed in part to fill seasonal tourism jobs at resorts and seaside towns. The 400 students employed at a Pennsylvania factory that makes Hershey's candies told The New York Times that even though they make $8.35 an hour, their rent and program fees are deducted from their paychecks, leaving them with less money than they spent to get the visas and travel to the country in the first place.

Some of the students were assigned night shifts, and said they were pressured to work faster and faster on the factory lines.

Hershey's said they didn't hire the students when the Times asked:

A spokesman for Hershey's, Kirk Saville, said the chocolate company did not directly operate the Palmyra packing plant, which is managed by a company called Exel. A spokeswoman for Exel said it had found the student workers through another staffing company.

Last December, the AP revealed that federal immigration officials were investigating two human-trafficking abuse cases related to J-1 visas. Strip clubs openly solicited J-1 visa holders in job listings, and some foreign students told the AP they were forced into sexual slavery when their passports were confiscated by a ring of criminals. About 150,000 J-1 visas were given out in 2008. Businesses save about 8 percent by using a foreign worker because of Social Security and other taxes they do not have to pay.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/foreign-students-walk-off-hershey-factory-job-protest-214310205.html

And here's info about students being sexually exploited in this same program:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/06/j1-student-visa-abuse-for_n_792354.html

Glad I didn't buy into this.

international students get screwed all the damn time..this is just one more added to the list

I'd like to screw some hot foreign students, too. Anyone want to help me setup a company?

Contact the US State Department. They'll hook you up.

BTW, has anyone on this site ever participated in this program?

Really don't feel bad for anyone not expecting to work their asses off in a factory job, it is just a given. Hersheys is not Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory

I agree with Galaki though we need to treat foreign Europeans better because nothing is more of a turn on than a sexy accent. oh yeaaah!

They were not suppose to be made to work in facotries in the first place. Nor in strip clubs either.

The J-1 visa program brings foreign students to the country to work for two months and learn English, and was designed in part to fill seasonal tourism jobs at resorts and seaside towns.

Unless I know that government officials pushed them towards factories and stripping I see it as a result of the students taking whatever jobs they could get. If you know about Hershey, Pennsylvania than you would know its biggest tourist attraction is the factory. I think this is a problem with sending them to that location rather than a more tourist friendly and social atmosphere.

Basically, whoever did it was totally nullifying the point of the experince by sending them there, blame that person.

The sutdents didn't search for the jobs themselves. The jobs were given to them when they arrived. And I doubt many of the students had ever heard of Hershey, Pennsylvenia.

Plus, I doubt that factory working can be considered a 'seasonal tourism job'. Even the commercials and news reports I saw in my country regarding this program suggested that the students would get jobs in hotels or restaurants (as waiters, cleaners etc.).

SApphi your trying to get me to disagree with you when nothing in my second reply suggests I do. Sorry bro, maybe someone else will argue with you.