Thread: 81 illegal aliens arrested at Poconos plastics plant

Did illegals work for temp agency?

Oh yeah!! I know someone that is illegal in the country and she got the job thru a temp agency... That's why we have to keep an eye on the employers.. Temp Agencies in California I am sure they are not checking any documents because they are greedy and want money

DAVID KIDWELL/Pocono Record
Ex-workers describe sweatshop conditions at Iridium
Andrew Scott and SUSAN KOOMAR
Pocono Record Writer and Senior Managing Editor
June 22, 2007


EAST STROUDSBURG — Officials at Iridium Industries knew temporary workers there were illegal aliens and employed them in sweatshop conditions, according to former employees including Dorothy Crespo of Stroud Township.

Crespo was fired from the plastics company Wednesday — one day after federal agents arrested 81 illegal aliens at the plant. Iridium blames the situation on a temporary staffing agency, which neither Iridium nor federal investigators have named.

"They worked (the immigrants) seven 12-hour days a week, paid them no overtime and gave them only one day a month off," said Crespo. "I believe Iridium knew they were illegals and knew they wouldn't complain (out of fear of being deported)."

American citizens at the plant work three 12-hour days a week.

Crespo's story was corroborated by two other former employees and one current employee who contacted the Pocono Record.

"They work those people like dogs," said a plastics mechanic employed at Iridium for more than two years.

Crespo said she knew "one girl who got up at 3 a.m. and drove from Scranton to work 12 hours every day.

"They all worked hard. They sent money back home to their families," she said.

The immigrants came from Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico and Ecuador.

Iridium, owned by Eli and Jack Sassouni of New York, got more than $9 million in taxpayer-funded incentives — grants and low-interest loans — since 1999.

Ex-workers describe the production floor as having no air conditioning and inadequate bathroom facilities for the number of employees.

The company had 130 full-time workers before the raid; its number of temporary workers is not known.

The immigrants operated machines that make plastic squeeze tubes, imprinting designs on tubes, and packing them to be sent off and filled with lotions, said Crespo. Iridium's customers include L'Oreal and Victoria's Secret.

Iridium officials did not return calls for comment Thursday. The company issued a statement Wednesday saying federal investigators are targeting the temp agency.

The sting began with complaints to Monroe County CareerLink.

"We had a few remarks from past (Iridium) employees who said something fishy was going on," said John Casella, CareerLink director.

Casella contacted state Rep. Mario Scavello, R-176, about two weeks ago.

"The federal government acted pretty quickly," Scavello said.

Tuesday was Crespo's day off, so she missed the raid that began as night shift ended around 6 a.m. A friend later told her what happened.

The next day, Crespo was fired after working nearly three months as a packer. The termination came less than a week before her heart surgery, scheduled for Monday at Pocono Medical Center.

"They told me it was because I wasn't meeting their employee performance standards, but how can that be when they have no such standards?" asked Crespo, who is 54.

Crespo said the company never voiced any complaints about her job performance. But she missed four days of work — two consecutive days in May for an emergency medical visit and two more consecutive days in early June when her uncle died. Managers complained about her absences.

"I believe they fired me because they know I have upper-respiratory issues, since I told them that right at the start," she said. "Everything was fine up until I actually got sick and found out I needed heart surgery. I told them well in advance that the surgery is going to be June 25 and the doctors couldn't reschedule, but they told me they would fire me if I took any more days off for any medical appointments."

Another ex-Iridium employee described how illegal aliens came to work even when they were seriously ill.

He called Iridium "a very, very awful place to work."

Crespo agrees. "In my opinion, Iridium is not a good company to work for because of how they treat their employees," she said.

"My experience and the experiences I saw others have were negative."

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