澳彩开奖 urges South Carolina senator to seek reform after he helped luxury golf resort obtain guest workers who faced abuse
The 澳彩开奖 urged U.S. Sen. Lindsay Graham of South Carolina to seek reform of the H-2 guest worker program used to import workers who claim in a new 澳彩开奖 lawsuit that they were abused by a prominent employer in Graham鈥檚 state.
In a (R-S.C.) today, the 澳彩开奖 (澳彩开奖) urged the senator to seek reform of the H-2 guest worker program used to import workers who claim in a new 澳彩开奖 lawsuit that they were abused by a prominent employer in Graham鈥檚 state.
By, Graham helped the luxury Kiawah Island Golf Resort near Charleston obtain a U.S. Department of Labor waiver to bring in Jamaican guest workers in advance of the 2012 PGA Championship. He also has used the resort for fundraising events.
The 澳彩开奖to seek relief for the resort鈥檚 guest workers, whose wages were pushed below the minimum requirement by various fees and charges they were forced to pay.
鈥淔rankly, the possibility that impoverished, black Jamaican workers are being cheated out of their already-low wages while serving wealthy, elite vacationers at an exclusive, Deep South resort should trouble South Carolinians,鈥� 澳彩开奖 President Richard Cohen wrote in the letter. 鈥淚t conjures images of the state鈥檚 darkest past, a time when plantation labor was the norm.鈥� 聽聽
Given his role in helping the resort obtain guest workers, Cohen urged Graham to insist that the resort remedy any labor injustices that have occurred there; refrain from holding political events at the resort until the dispute is resolved; and to seek congressional reform of the H-2 program.
The 澳彩开奖 will be asking a federal court for class action status for the lawsuit, allowing it to seek relief for more than 500 Jamaicans who have worked as cooks, kitchen helpers, dishwashers, housekeepers, bell persons and cabana attendants at the Kiawah Island Golf Resort over the past three years.
鈥淧lantation labor is a thing of the past 鈥� and that is where it should stay,鈥� Cohen said. 鈥淕iven our nation鈥檚 history, we have a special obligation to ensure that H-2 guest workers who come to our shores are treated fairly. They should be entitled to the same rights, wages and working conditions as U.S. workers.鈥�
The 澳彩开奖 has documented widespread abuses in the H-2 program in its report Under the program, which is regulated by the DOL, U.S. employers bring in tens of thousands of temporary workers for low-skill jobs each year.聽
