Thread: Mexican workers in U.S. during WWII can get back pay

Oct 15, 2008 3:31 PM EDT

Mexican workers in US during WWII can get back pay

CHICAGO (AP) -- Mexican laborers in a World War II-era guest-worker program can soon apply for money that was withheld from their paychecks and sent to the Mexican government.

Chicago attorney Matthew Piers (PEERS) said Wednesday that a San Francisco judge approved the preliminary deal last week.

Thousands of workers known as braceros (brah-SEHR'-ohs) took agriculture and railroad jobs in the U.S. between 1942 and 1946 under agreements between both governments. Under the agreement, each bracero is eligible for about $3,500 from the Mexican government.

Former braceros based in the U.S., or their family members, can file claims starting next week at the Mexican Embassy or Mexican consulates.

Piers filed the lawsuit seeking class-action status on behalf of several former braceros who claim they were denied wages.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ ... TE=DEFAULT

Mexican laborers in a World War II-era guest-worker program can soon apply for money that was withheld from their paychecks and sent to the Mexican government.

Why is this suit being pressed in a US court, rather than a Mexican court, or am I missing something?

If they don't step forward to claim it, can I have it? Si se puede!

WAIT WHAT THE (mod edit) IF IT WAS GIVEN TO THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT THEN GUESS WHO THEY CAN GO TO FOR THE MONEY!!!!!! THEIR OWN (mod edit) GOVERNMENT!!!!!!! THIS IS MADNESS...WHEN WILL IT END AND WHEN WILL THE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS BE FREE FROM SUBSIDIZING THE WORLD?

This story is now on The USA TODAY Online site. You can post a comment there at this link:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/20 ... in-ba.html

Originally Posted by gemini282

WAIT WHAT THE (mod edit) IF IT WAS GIVEN TO THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT THEN GUESS WHO THEY CAN GO TO FOR THE MONEY!!!!!! THEIR OWN (mod edit) GOVERNMENT!!!!!!! THIS IS MADNESS...WHEN WILL IT END AND WHEN WILL THE AMERICAN TAXPAYERS BE FREE FROM SUBSIDIZING THE WORLD?

According to the article posted below the money is coming from the Mexican government.

CORRECTING and REPLACING WWII Era Braceros Win Access to Payroll Savings
Agricultural Workers Must File Claims With Mexican Embassy or Consul Office in U.S.

Last update: 12:15 p.m. EDT Oct. 14, 2008
CHICAGO, Oct 14, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Last graph, first sentence should read: ... call the toll-free Caso Bracero Hotline at 1-877-436-9359, ... (sted 1-877-439-9359).
The corrected release reads:

WWII ERA BRACEROS WIN ACCESS TO PAYROLL SAVINGS
Agricultural Workers Must File Claims With Mexican Embassy or Consul Office in U.S.

The law firm of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. of Chicago, IL. today announced thousands of Mexican farm and railroad laborers may soon be collecting monies withheld from their paychecks for work they performed in the United States of America during World War II as a result of a settlement of a class action lawsuit which was given preliminary approval by a federal court Friday, October 10, 2008.

The settlement was reached between the Mexican government and a group of U.S. lawyers representing Mexican workers -- known as braceros (manual laborers) -- who came to the U.S. during World War II to work in agricultural and railroad jobs pursuant to a series of international treaties between the U.S. and Mexican governments. It provides for payments to braceros or their surviving family members who reside in the U.S. and can provide original documents to show that they (or a deceased parent or spouse) worked as a bracero from January 1, 1942 through December 31, 1946. All claims must be presented in person to a Mexican Consulate office or the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C. by December 23, 2008.

According to the class action suit braceros and their families complained that not only were they made to do back-breaking labor under abysmal conditions, but for 60-plus years have been deprived of 10 percent of their wages by the Mexican government. The wages were set aside pursuant to the terms of international agreements in order to provide for guaranteed savings accounts for the workers but were never paid to them.

"These hard working individuals came to the U.S. to help our country during a time of war. They played by the rules and did all that was asked of them, and in return they were abused and exploited," said Matthew Piers, a partner of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, one of several law firms around the country involved in the suit to have braceros gain access to their earned savings funds. "The settlement represents a significant measure of justice for the braceros and their families, who have been owed these monies for over half a century," added Piers.
Over a quarter million Mexican agricultural and railroad workers entered into braceros employment contracts to work in the U.S. between 1942-1946, and had 10 percent of their wages withheld by U.S. employers, which were then forwarded (via the Wells Fargo Bank and Union Trust Company of San (National Bank of Agricultural Credit) and were to be paid to braceros upon their return to Mexico.

The lawsuit alleges those funds were then never paid to the braceros, but instead were misappropriated by the Mexican government. Under the settlement, the Mexican government will provide a payment to braceros, or their surviving spouses or children, in the amount of approximately $3,500 (USD).

A growing number of national and regional Latino community-based organizations are involved in this effort to disseminate information to their respective constituents on how braceros and/or their surviving family members can file claims for the funds. Among them are the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute (CHCI), Farmworker Justice, the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR), Impremedia Publications, National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP), Texas Migrant Council (TMC), and Univision Communications.
For more information or assistance in filling out and delivering the application claim forms, please visit the Caso Bracero web site at www.casobracero.com, call the toll-free Caso Bracero Hotline at 1-877-436-9359, or send a letter to Caso Bracero, P.O. Box 641610, Chicago, Illinois, 60664-1610. All interested persons are urged to act quickly, since the deadline for delivery of application forms to Mexican government offices in the United States is December 23, 2008.
SOURCE: Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd.
Estrada Communications Group
Maria Reyes, 512-335-7776
maria@estradausa.com

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/w ... aspx?guid={D0C0B9A2-4590-431D-A48F-C6B4BB2676AB}&dist=hppr

Mexico bracero processing

If you worked in the bracero program between 1942 and 1946,
or if you are the surviving spouse or child of such a bracero,
and you are living in the United States,,
you could get an award from a class action settlement.
Dateline to submit your claim is December 23,2008! Act now.

The "bracero" program was a guest worker program. Initiated in 1942, the program brought several million Mexican laborers to the United States, to work in more than half the states in the United States, in agricultural jobs.

Between the years 1942 and 1946, workers in the program did not receive full paychecks. Ten percent of their wages were deducted from each paycheck and set aside for a "savings fund," allegedly to be reimbursed to them upon their return to Mexico. Many workers, however, never had their funds returned to them. Eight years ago, six of these braceros filed a class action federal lawsuit, on behalf of themselves and other braceros, against the Mexican government. Those six braceros and the Mexican Government have now entered into a proposed settlement, which may entitle you to a one-time award of $3500 dollars from the Mexican Government.

For quick answers to common questions about the settlement, click here.

For a more complete explanation of the lawsuit and your rights under the settlement, click here.

For the forms you must fill out in order to make a claim for payment under the settlement, click here.

For a copy of the full settlement agreement, click here.

DEADLINES: All claims for money from the settlement must be submitted no later than December 23, 2008. You must submit your claim in person, using the claim form approved by the United States federal judge presiding over the case. Claim forms must be submitted to one of the Mexican Consulates in the United States or to the Consular Section of the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C. and must be received by the consulate or the Consular Section of the Embassy of Mexico on or before December 23, 2008.

The Court in charge of this case still has to decide whether to approve the settlement. Payments will be made if the Court approves the settlement and after any appeals are resolved.

YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS SETTLEMENT
SUBMIT A CLAIM FORM The only way to get a payment.
EXCLUDE YOURSELF Get no payment. This is the only option that allows you to ever be part of any other lawsuit about the legal claims in this case against the Mexican Government, Banco de Mexico, or the other two bank defendants, Banco Nacional de Credito Rural, or Patronato del Ahorro Nacional .

OBJECT Write to the Court about why you don't like the settlement.
GO TO A HEARING Ask to speak in Court about the fairness of the settlement.
DO NOTHING Get no payment. Give up rights.

http://www.casobracero.com/

Ok I got confused, I don't understand why it's being held in a US court then??? But then it makes me wonder where Mexico is getting the money to pay for it??? I'd put money on some grant we've so generously donated to them so they can pay these people. We're going to get screwed on way or another.

Originally Posted by gemini282

Ok I got confused, I don't understand why it's being held in a US court then??? But then it makes me wonder where Mexico is getting the money to pay for it??? I'd put money on some grant we've so generously donated to them so they can pay these people. We're going to get screwed on way or another.

It's in the U.S. Court for people who were workers back in the forties but now live in the U.S. as citizens or legal aliens.
Several years ago Mexico paid the money to the workers who had returned to Mexico and are still living there, but they didn't pay people who had moved to the U.S. legally.

Mexico has lots of oil for which they get money from their customers, and that can pay these workers their back wadges.

If the six, et al, that filed against Mexico for their withheld payment are now US citizens, would that not be a case that should be tried in the world court?