Foreign Guestworkers at Hershey Facility In Pennsylvania Protest Wages, Conditions

A group of 400 foreign student guestworkers employed through the J-1 visa program and working at a Palmyra, Pa., Hershey Co. warehouse have staged several protests in recent days over their wages and working conditions, and supporters of the workers say the protests resulted in the shutdown of the facility Aug. 17.

The workers, who came from as far away as Turkey and Nigeria and paid between $3,000 and $6,000 each to come to the United States for what was billed as a cultural exchange program, are being supported by the National Guestworker Alliance, a group that signed a partnership ...