Over 500 Indian workers sue US firm for human trafficking

Source: PTI

Houston: Lawyers for a group of Indian guest workers, trafficked to the US from India to work in ship yards after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, have sued an American company, Signal International, along with its co-conspirators and other entities for human trafficking and racketeering.

If class status is granted, the lawsuit could be the largest human trafficking case in US history, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has said in a statement.

Workers were allegedly lured here with dishonest assurances of becoming lawful permanent US residents, the statement said.

The ACLU joined a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of over 500 guest workers from India charging that the workers were trafficked into the US through the federal government's H-2B guest worker programme with dishonest assurances of becoming lawful permanent US residents and subjected to squalid living conditions, fraudulent payment practises, and threats of serious harm upon their arrival.

Read more: http://in.news.yahoo.com/over-500-indian-workers-sue-us-firm-for-human-trafficking-20110222.html

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Breaking Activist News http://activistnews.blogspot.com

"Signal’s corporate mission statement mandates safety first, superior customer service and quality products. Beginning with my office and carrying through all levels of our company, we honor our commitments to our customers and we conduct business in an ethical manner. These core values are taken very seriously by all employees."
http://www.signalint.com/about/chairmans_message

I think a great many Americans would be shocked to discover how often this happens in the US.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_trafficking_in_the_United_States