Thread: Attorney: Guest-work system can be abused

http://www.rockymountainnews.com

Attorney: Guest-work system can be abused
By Deborah Frazier, Rocky Mountain News
June 3, 2006

A federal suit filed against a Colorado ranch on behalf of Chilean herders exposes the potential for abuse in guest-worker programs, an attorney said Friday.

Colorado Legal Services, which provides legal help to low-income people, filed the suit against six members of the Wright Dickinson family, claiming multiple violations of federal and state labor laws.

Wright and Pauline Dickinson and their family operate one of the largest cattle ranches in the state on federal land near Craig.

The Dickinsons said they have not seen the suit and declined to comment.

The suit, filed on behalf of five Chilean men who worked at the ranch for up to two years between 2003 and 2005, said they worked seven days a week and up to 16 hours a day for $2 to $3 an hour.

"The workers were without freedom or dignity," said Jennifer Lee, who represents the Chileans. "One worker had his mail opened. Three of them had no bath or toilet.

"Their pay was kept in a bank account they could not access. Their passports, Social Security cards and visas were taken away," she said.

With America debating an expanded guest-worker program to control illegal immigration, the case demonstrates the opportunity for abuse, Lee said.

"A guest-worker program can easily become a situation of exploitation because agricultural workers are tied to a single employer," she said.

Anne Filbert, a Colorado Springs attorney who represents the Dickinsons in obtaining foreign agricultural workers legally, said the allegations are false.

Filbert said the suit was an attack on the guest-worker program for agricultural laborers, which was a success both for U.S. employers and the workers.

"This program is the one way workers can come here legally and take thousands of dollars home for their families," Filbert said.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Yael Velásquez Catalán and his brother, Sergio Velásquez Catalán; Humberto Berrocal Ortiz; Luis Fuentes Sandoval; and Oscar Sandoval Poblete, claims that:

• The Dickinsons confiscated the workers Social Security cards, passports and visas shortly after they arrived, making it impossible for them to leave.

• The workers, who did not speak or read English, were each taken to a bank in Rock Springs, Wyo., shortly after they arrived, told to sign a document written in English that allowed the Dickinsons to deposit and withdraw money from the workers' bank accounts.

• The men were unable to access their accounts and were only able to send money home to their families through the Dickinsons.

• Some months, after deductions for airfare, food, work clothing and other items, the workers owed the Dickinsons money.

• The Velásquez Cataláns were paid $800 per month, minus more than $200 a month in deductions, rather than the more than $1,000 per month they were promised.

• When the Velásquez Cataláns said they wanted to return to Chile, they were returned to work in a remote location and the horses they used were removed.

• When the two Chileans again asked to leave, they were told they couldn't have their money, passports and documents and they would be deported.

The Velásquez Cataláns did leave the ranch after a hunter let them use his cell phone, but the Dickinsons withheld their documents and money.

• All five were recruited in Chile to work with cattle on agricultural visas, but Berrocal Ortiz, Fuentes Sandoval and Sandoval Poblete worked as mechanics in violation of the visa rules.

• Berrocal Ortiz was thrown from a horse, lost consciousness, broke his nose, experienced dizziness and chest pains, but was required to work for several days before he was taken for treatment.

• Fuentes Sandoval injured his eye while welding, but the Dickinson's required him to continue working. Three days later, a doctor removed four pieces of metal from his eye.

"It's not true," said Filbert of the claims. "In the 20 years I've worked with the Dickinsons, they've never had a complaint filed by a worker.

"They work side by side with their workers," she said. "It's heartbreaking to see this after all they did for some of these workers."

I'm sure McCain/Kennedy/Bush would use this as example as to why we must make them citizens, buy their houses for them, put food on their tables, pay their medical bills, give them social security benefits and reward them properly for being here illegal.

"The workers were without freedom or dignity,"

Even after the lawsuit they will still have no dignity.

I am not doubting the truth of the story - nor am I accepting it.

In my opinion, however, this is just one of many that will be filed as soon as these people become legal.

Just think of all the things - workplace safety, overtime, medical care, discrimination, language problems, etc., etc.,

I'll bet there are lawyers gearing up right now and probably some suits ready to file.

It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch.

But I will be willing to bet in that big bunch of garbage they call the 'immigration bill' is some kind of protection for the employers for this kind of thing. Does anyone know?