The students contend that they were assigned manual labor for low wages in the candy warehouse and that they haven't had the time or money to learn about American culture - the main reason they participated in the program, which costs each student several thousand dollars.
Two outsourcing companies, Exel North American Logistics Inc. and SHS Onsite Solutions, run and staff the Hershey warehouse in Palmyra, Lebanon County. A nonprofit group, Council for Educational Travel, or CETUSA, sponsors the 375 foreign students who appear to be a large part of the warehouse's seasonal workforce.
Meanwhile, the labor group that helped organize the student protests, the National Guestworker Alliance of New Orleans, says it has e-mails from foreign students who worked at the Hershey warehouse in the past.
According to a complaint that the National Guestworker Alliance filed Aug. 17 with the U.S. State Department, the J-1-visa program is not used only for summer work.
"CETUSA," the complaint stated, "advertises their Summer Work Travel program as a way for employers to source workers year-round, in seasonal rotations that match school vacations in different parts of the world." The State Department oversees the visa program.
Rick Anaya, chief executive officer of CETUSA, said that his organization had brought foreign students to Pennsylvania for about 10 years and that it did not restrict participation to the summer months. But, he added, the organization does not rotate students into U.S. jobs. "We do not intend to displace American workers," Anaya said. "This is designed to bring university students over to the United States."
An official with Exel said the company would no longer use J-1 foreign students in the warehouse and would recruit employees locally.
