The company wanted its workers to get the message that they would not have "free rein when they decide that they want to run." This echo of the bondage of centuries past was in an email between managers at Signal International, the Alabama-based industrial ship manufacturing and repair giant. They were writing about 500 guest workers from India, legally employed at Signal...with H-2B temporary work visas, but illegally subjected to fraudulent recruitment practices, squalid living conditions, and threats of serious harm. Last week, in an effort to pursue long-delayed justice, three of America's largest law firms filed lawsuits against Signal on behalf of many of these men, and at least five more major law firms have agreed to represent many more.