Monday, May 02, 2011

EEOC Makes Headlines with Labor Trafficking Suit

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has brought formal charges against labor contractor Global Horizons Manpower, Inc, in what is being deemed the largest case of labor trafficking in the United States.

The EEOC is alleging that the California based contractor recruited hundreds of Thai workers from 2003 to 2007 to work on several U.S. farms under false pretenses of a better life. Upon arrival in the U.S. the workers were physically abused by their recruiters, deprived of food and water and had accrued a debt by the traffickers which would have been impossible to pay off. With their passports confiscated and under constant watch by body guards, they had little hope of escape, until one worker made their way to a nonprofit agency and told their story.


Global Horizons has been recruiting workers from around the world since 1989. Their website states that they “…understand the aspirations of countless workers who dream of having better jobs in better places, but who wish to return to their country of native origin when they've completed the job.” While the words are inspirational, the actions of Global Horizons have turned these “aspirations” for hundreds into a living nightmare.


As of now, back wages are being sought for each of the workers.


While the media attention surrounding this case is rare, labor trafficking itself is a lucrative business for traffickers in the United States. Currently, there are an estimated 10,000 victims of labor trafficking in the U.S.

4 comments:

  1. Human trafficking issues are all over the world! Why can't those people responsible for this crime be conceived by their consciences!

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  2. I'm glad that there is attention being paid to the problem of labor trafficking that takes place in the US. http://projectcsr.wordpress.com/2011/05/23/slavery-in-our-backyard/

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  3. Anonymous11:47 AM

    hm. I suggest everyone viewing this page to read this: http://www.rsis.edu.sg/nts/HTML-Newsletter/alert/NTS-alert-may-1102.html

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  4. Anonymous1:38 AM

    i was recrute by rics kountry kitchen in bahrain my visa is only a visit visa but they let me sign a two years contract when my mother died they did not let me go home they said i can only go home after two years i work starting nov. 14,2007 up to march 14 2008 they force me to work but idid not obey instead i seek the help of phil embassy then they let me go i arrived here in the phil. march 30,2008 i shoulder all expense just to go home they did not give my last one month salary that they owe me this time 2011 i found out that they build a new restaurant in baloy beach in barretto olongapo city now i dont have a job because they are telling that i become insane during the time that i work for him in bahrain.pls if anybody can help i want justice for this matter i lost my pride and dignity as former chef of the president of the philippines.

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