3 Okt 2023
USA: Peruvian sheepherders experience severe exploitation on isolated ranches, & are often unable to leave
Zusammenfassung
Date Reported: 3 Okt 2023
Standort: Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika
Andere
Not Reported ( Landwirtschaft/Nahrungsmittel/Getränke/Tabak/Fischerei: Allgemein ) - EmployerBetroffen
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Wanderarbeitnehmer & eingewanderte Arbeitnehmer: ( Number unknown - Location unknown , Landwirtschaft/Nahrungsmittel/Getränke/Tabak/Fischerei: Allgemein , Gender not reported )Themen
Occupational Health & Safety , ToteAntwort
Antwort erbeten: Ja, von By journalist
Ergriffene Maßnahmen: Wyoming’s Department of Workforce Services OSHA Division declined to investigate the death because they said it was outside their jurisdiction. His employer, a rancher named Bart Argyle, did not return requests for comment. Argyle brought nine more herders into the country on H-2A visas this year.
Art der Quelle: News outlet
Zusammenfassung
Date Reported: 3 Okt 2023
Standort: Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika
Unternehmen
Child Ranch - EmployerBetroffen
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Wanderarbeitnehmer & eingewanderte Arbeitnehmer: ( 2 - Peru , Landwirtschaft/Nahrungsmittel/Getränke/Tabak/Fischerei: Allgemein , Gender not reported )Themen
Einbehalten von Ausweisdokumenten , Restricted mobility , Informationszugang , Personalbeschaffungsgebühren , Wage Theft , Reasonable Working Hours & Leisure Time , Einschüchterung & Drohungen , Recht auf Nahrung , Wasserzugang , MedikamentenzugangAntwort
Antwort erbeten: Ja, von Journalists
External link to response: (Find out more)
Ergriffene Maßnahmen: The employer did not respond to repeated phone calls, emails and a certified letter requesting comment about the assertions made in this story. In September 2020, the brothers filed wage theft complaints against the ranch. In a letter to a Wyoming Department of Workforce Services officer reviewed for this story, Vickie Child called the brothers’ accusations “totally false,” but acknowledged that Iván and Gustavo “do have some money coming.” She paid Iván $4,260 in back wages, but then disputed Gustavo’s claim, which was considerably larger. In December 2020, a Wyoming Department of Workforce Services investigation determined that Child did, in fact, owe Gustavo over $7,300 in back pay, and that he had illegally deducted work-related gear, like boots and binoculars, from Gustavo’s paycheck. But because Wyoming state law limits the amount of back wages that workers can ask for, Gustavo was ultimately awarded less than half of what he was owed. The brothers were awarded T visas in October 2022.
Art der Quelle: News outlet
Zusammenfassung
Date Reported: 3 Okt 2023
Standort: Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika
Unternehmen
Western Range Association - Other Value Chain EntityBetroffen
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Wanderarbeitnehmer & eingewanderte Arbeitnehmer: ( Number unknown - Peru , Landwirtschaft/Nahrungsmittel/Getränke/Tabak/Fischerei: Allgemein , Gender not reported )Themen
PersonalbeschaffungsgebührenAntwort
Antwort erbeten: Ja, von Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Ergriffene Maßnahmen: In an emailed statement, Western Range Executive Director Monica Youree stressed the group’s commitment to herders’ “safety and well-being” ... The lawyers who represent herders, Western Range said, “appear more interested in exploiting isolated incidents to make broad assessments about the industry,” she said, and “often attempt to recover millions of dollars for themselves.”. The lawsuit is still pending.
Art der Quelle: News outlet
Zusammenfassung
Date Reported: 3 Okt 2023
Standort: Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika
Andere
Not Reported ( Landwirtschaft/Nahrungsmittel/Getränke/Tabak/Fischerei: Allgemein ) - EmployerBetroffen
Total individuals affected: 1
Wanderarbeitnehmer & eingewanderte Arbeitnehmer: ( 1 - Location unknown , Landwirtschaft/Nahrungsmittel/Getränke/Tabak/Fischerei: Allgemein , Gender not reported )Themen
Tote , Occupational Health & Safety , Wasserzugang , Heat exposureAntwort
Response sought: Nein
Ergriffene Maßnahmen: OSHA fined the employer $9,750 in 2019, but he hired three more H-2A workers later that year.
Art der Quelle: News outlet
Zusammenfassung
Date Reported: 3 Okt 2023
Standort: Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika
Unternehmen
Western Range Association - Other Value Chain EntityBetroffen
Total individuals affected: Number unknown
Wanderarbeitnehmer & eingewanderte Arbeitnehmer: ( Number unknown - Peru , Landwirtschaft/Nahrungsmittel/Getränke/Tabak/Fischerei: Allgemein , Gender not reported )Themen
PersonalbeschaffungsgebührenAntwort
Antwort erbeten: Ja, von Journalist
External link to response: (Find out more)
Ergriffene Maßnahmen: In an emailed statement, Western Range Executive Director Monica Youree stressed the group’s commitment to herders’ “safety and well-being” ... The lawyers who represent herders, Western Range said, “appear more interested in exploiting isolated incidents to make broad assessments about the industry,” she said, and “often attempt to recover millions of dollars for themselves.”. The lawsuit was dismissed.
Art der Quelle: News outlet
"Alone on the Range”
…Originally from Peru, the brothers had been recruited to work as sheepherders in the United States under a temporary work visa…
The hours were long and conditions were brutal, but they couldn’t see how to just leave…
…Today, much of that advocacy is done by trade groups such as the Western Range Association… As of 2014, the trade group Iván and Gustavo’s boss worked with, Mountain Plains Agricultural Service, hired many of the rest. (Mountain Plains did not respond to multiple requests for comment.)…
… Western Range Executive Director Monica Youree stressed the group’s commitment to herders’ “safety and well-being” and vehemently denied any wage-fixing allegations…
…He landed in Wyoming and was picked up at the airport and driven out to Child Ranch…neither Jon Child nor his wife, Vickie, responded to repeated phone calls, emails and a certified letter requesting comment about the assertions made in this story…
…According to details from OSHA’s inspection, investigators determined that he appeared to have died from heat-related illness and that his employer, Joe Paesano, hadn’t given him enough water. OSHA fined Paesano $9,750 in 2019, but he hired three more H-2A workers later that year…