8 count them 8 – Striking guest workers from Breaux Bridge crawfish plant protest Sam’s Club in Metairie

Eight striking laborers protesting the working conditions at a crawfish processing plant in Breaux Bridge.

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…Airline Drive parking lot of Sam’s Club, the plant’s main customer. The workers, who came from Mexico on temporary work visas, complained of being threatened with beatings and forced to work long hours peeling crawfish at C J’s Seafoodfor no overtime pay, said Jacob Horwitz,

a lead organizer for the National Guestworker Alliance, which hosted today’s event.

“Most of the workforce was absolutely terrified,” he said.

Horwitz said today’s rally was meant to bring attention to the plight of workers hired under the federal H-2B temporary worker program. About a dozen protesters, most holding signs that read “dignity,” gathered in the noonday heat. The group moved to the sidewalk at the behest of two Sam’s Club managers, who refused to receive a letter from the workers explaining what happened and listing their demands.

http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2012/06/striking_guest_workers_from_br.html

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http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1271.html#8