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

Americans were fighting overseas, Mexicans came here legally and worked they should have been paid the monies.

Let me get the figures right, someone help me out.

$3500 would be 10% of the wages they earned between 1942-1946? Does that mean they earned $35k in those 4 years? Wasn't $8750 per year a pretty high salary for that time? Or was it base wage plus interest and how was the interest calculated? If it was in their contract, they are entitled to it anyway, shame it took so long.

Will Mexico honor it?

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).

Ok...The mexican government will be tendering these payments. So that's not an issue in my mind. The workers earned it, they should be paid.

The law firm of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. of Chicago, IL

What I want to know is who's going to be paying this law firm? Did they file this case on contingency? If so, is their compensation going to come from the mexican government, or are the American people going to pick up the tab for this lawsuit.

Found some more info on this.

In the case of the United States, there have been several key programs beginning with the "Bracero" program that lasted from 1942 to 1964. The program was established through formal negotiations and an agreement between the United States and Mexico for the purpose of meeting US food supply needs during World War II. The program imported agricultural workers on a seasonal basis, although in later years it also involved workers for railroad companies. At its root, however, it was an agricultural program.

During the Bracero program's 22 years, it involved 4.5 million people. There were elaborate contracts that covered wide-ranging contingencies regarding housing, wages, and labor conditions. The contracts included the withholding of 10 percent of workers' wages, which went to the government of Mexico to be given back to workers when they returned.

Contracts notwithstanding, the central characteristic of the Bracero Program was widespread abuse of workers. Among the more egregious was that the 10 percent wage withholding generally never found its way to the workers when they returned. One legacy of the Bracero years is a pending lawsuit seeking payment of those wages.

http://www.migrationinformation.org/USF ... cfm?ID=205

This program is credited with spawning illegal immigration. The 10% was to be given to Mexicans who RETURNED to Mexico. I read that as the Mexicans who did not return were not entitled to it.

1942-1946
I was just a boy, but the shipyards , aircraft factories, weapons makers and such worked 3 shifts and 7 days during the war years. Many Americans made more money in a year than they made in 2-3 years before. Some of it was in increased salaries, a lot of it was in 50+ hours a week at the job.
Yes , it was a lot of money, but not unusual because of the war.

PS Rosie the riveter came into being and women started making a lot more money and had a lot more jobs opened up to them. Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition.

Ba ck pay OK'd for WWII-era guest workers

Mexican braceros or surviving heirs to receive $3,500

By Pam Belluck
NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE

October 16, 2008

Tens of thousands of Mexicans who labored in the United States under a World War II-era guest-worker program will be eligible to collect back pay under a settlement to a long-fought lawsuit.

From 200,000 to 300,000 laborers, called braceros, worked as farmhands or railroad workers from 1942 to 1946, and under the program, a portion of their pay was deducted and transferred to the Mexican government to be given to the workers when they returned to Mexico.

But many laborers said they never received the pay, and many never even knew that 10 percent of their salaries was deducted. In 2001, lawyers filed a class-action lawsuit in California.

The lawsuit was dismissed twice, as courts considered whether too much time had passed and whether a lawsuit against the Mexican government could have standing in the United States. The U.S. government and Wells Fargo Bank, initially named as defendants, were dismissed from the case.

Scores of elderly ex-braceros staged protests in Mexico, demanding compensation.

Finding guidance
For information or help in filling out application claim forms, visit casobracero.com, call the toll-free Caso Bracero Hotline at (877) 436-9359 or send a letter to Caso Bracero, P.O. Box 641610, Chicago, IL 60664-1610. People also can contact Casa Familiar, (619) 428-1115.

Yesterday, lawyers for the braceros and the Mexican government said the U.S. District Court in San Francisco had given preliminary approval to a settlement in the case.

Under the settlement, scheduled for a hearing on final approval in a few months, Mexico would give each bracero or a surviving heir $3,500.

“It's an overdue redress for a very historic grievance,â€

Mexican ministry satisfied with braceros agreement

By Sophia Tareen
ASSOCIATED PRESS

8:58 p.m. October 16, 2008

CHICAGO – Mexico's Foreign Affairs Ministry said Thursday that it is satisfied with a multimillion dollar settlement allowing Mexican laborers who were part of a World War II-era visitor working program in the U.S. to collect money that had been withheld from their paychecks.
The preliminary settlement approved by a federal judge last week in San Francisco “represents a mutually beneficial solution,â€

MARIA ELENA SALINAS

Living without wages for 60 years

October 20, 2008

Alejandro Vega is 80 years old, but his mind is keen. He clearly remembers when he came across the border from the small town of China in the Mexican state of Nuevo Leon to work in the fields in Texas. He was 17 years old at the time, strong and eager to do whatever was necessary to make a living and help his family.

“There was plenty of work to do,â€

Consulate taking braceros' paperwork

By Hiram Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

October 23, 2008

SAN YSIDRO – The Mexican Consulate in San Diego will begin accepting applications today from former guest workers who are seeking compensation for money deducted from their paychecks while working in the United States during World War II.


AdvertisementThe Mexican government kept 10 percent of their wages and was supposed to give the money back to the workers once they returned to their country. But many of the workers, known as braceros, never received the money or were even aware of the deduction.
While many elderly workers will now have a chance to collect about $3,500 from the Mexican government because of a recent lawsuit settled in the United States, hundreds of braceros living in San Diego County already have received or are about to get a check.

For the past five years, Maria Elena Espinoza, a social worker at Casa Familiar in San Ysidro, has registered about 500 elderly workers through a similar program offered in Mexico. About 45 local braceros have already collected the money, and every two weeks the Mexican government is releasing the names of workers whose checks are ready.

“Time is of the essence for many of these viejitos (elderly people),â€

RELATED

2/20/2014
​
http://www.alipac.us/f12/mexican-bra...-files-297938/