Anna Brewer & John Fitzgerald
Last Thursday, Penn State USAS hosted Cosmin, Harika, Jon, and Tony, four J-1 student guestworkers who have been on strike for three weeks against exploitation and abuse at Hershey’s chocolate factory. It was an exciting opportunity to get local student activists talking to these courageous students, who explained first-hand how they were able to organize across language barriers in the face fierce opposition from management and threats of deportation.
The student guestworkers have come to the United States from all over the world – Turkey, Armenia, Poland, South Africa, China and Indonesia – on what was supposed to be a Summer work/cultural exchange program. Students paid $3,000-6000 to come with the hope of making back the money they spent in travel and fees and getting the opportunity to learn about American culture. Instead, 400 students found themselves doing hard labor in sweatshop conditions packing chocolate bars for Hershey’s, working 40hrs a week for less than $100. The students decided to stand up for themselves and their dignity, and organized across language barriers to resist the exploitation. Their demands to Hershey’s are simple: Refund their costs, and give the jobs to local Pennsylvanians who need them.
After a tour of our campus, we had a group lunch with student leaders from organizations such as the NAACP, Latino Caucus, student government, and the graduate student association, as well as representatives from the administration and the labor department. After hearing the J-1 students speak, the student leaders signed a letter we had written asking our university to put pressure on Hershey for a swift and just resolution. Penn State took $50 million from the Milton S Hershey Foundation to build the Hershey Medical Center on campus, and many of our administrators have personal relationships with Hershey’s executives.
USASers and J-1 student guestworkers at the Penn State Lion Shrine
As well as taking our message to Penn State administration, we also had a day full of events to provide the cultural experience that they were denied by Hershey. We made a stop at the University bookstore to show them Alta Gracia, a union-made living wage college apparel brand that Penn State USASers have campaigned for for over a decade. We took the student union by surprise, dancing and singing while dressed as Hershey Kisses as we told the tale of unsweet exploitation through a remixed version of the beloved Oompa Loompa song! (“What do you get when cut workers’ rights? / The J-1 students that STRIKE STRIKE STRIKE!”) Finally we ended the day with an inspiring speaking event, where the students got to tell their stories and answer questions from the audience.
The J-1 students are an inspiration to student activists across the USAS network who are fighting against corporate abuse on our campuses and in our communities, and we’ll continue to stand in solidarity with guestworkers as they escalate their fight against exploitation at Hershey’s. This Friday September 23rd, student activists from all over Pennsylvania will be descending on Hershey, Pa, to demand that Hershey’s finally takes responsibility for the injustices, pay the students workers back, and ensure sweatshops jobs are replaced with the good living wage jobs Pennsylvanians need.
If you’re a student in PA and want to join us as we stand with J-1 student workers, email: email hidden; JavaScript is required
