More Evidence Surfaces of Undocumented Workers on VW Project
2/19/2010
An investigative effort by a Tennessee local union has uncovered evidence of dozens of foreign workers being exploited by contractors on the Volkswagen project.
A local Tennessee construction union has uncovered further evidence that contractors working on the Enterprise South site are utilizing, and oftentimes exploiting and abusing, foriegn workers.
These contractors - most of whom are from out-of-state - have been found to be employing workers from Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, El Salvador, Argentina, Venezuela, and Nicaraugua.
One contractor from Germany, has even brought in workers from Poland to do work that rightfully should have gone to Tennessee workers.
One of the Latino workers even outlined a series of specific abuses aimed at these workers, including:
- Pay being witheld for work performed
- Non-certified crane operators being allowed to man dangerous equipment
- Workers being forced into dangerous and unsafe working conditions...and being threatened with termination if they did not comply
- Verbal abuse of Latino workers
This is just another sad chapter in a story that involves malfeasance on the part of our local politicians who did not insist on a "local hire" agreement as part of the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that were given to VW. And, it is a story of the hypocrisy on the part of Volkswagen...who claims that they are a socially responsible corporation that respects the rights of workers. I guess that's the case everywhere EXCEPT Tennessee.
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