Monsanto sued for underpaying workers
Published: 23 July, 2012, 23:59
Screenshot from monsanto.com
It’s back to court for biotech giants Monsanto. This time America’s
largest agriculture corporation is being sued by a group of farmers who
say they were promised free housing but instead were charged thousands
and poisoned by pesticides.
Seven migrant workers from the state of Texas are suing Monsanto
after they say the massive biotech corporation failed to keep their
promise. The plaintiffs argue that they were promised free housing and
kitchen access for their families in exchange for working on a hybrid
corn seed project in the state of Indiana, but instead were milked out
of their money and exposed to dangerous chemicals.
Jose Cardenas,
the lead plaintiff in the case, is going after Monsanto and its
recruiter, Milo Inc., as well as that company’s president. Cardenas
insists that Milo Inc. promised the plaintiffs $80 for each acre the
farmers detasseled and would be additionally compensated with housing
arrangements. According to his complaint, however, the pay that was
signed over was less than minimum wage when divided among the crew
members.
Courthouse News Service reports that money problems weren’t all the farmers were poised with.
"The
motel housing did not comply with substantive federal and state safety
and health standards applicable to agricultural labor housing,” the
complaint reads.Additionally, instead of complimentary accommodations
they were forced to spend $300 per room while on the job.
And the kitchen? “[T]he
kitchen facility provided by the defendants – a school bus in which
about three to four stoves and two refrigerators had been installed –
was substandard."
"Two or more of the working plaintiffs
suffered illness or injuries from suspected pesticide exposure while
working for defendants,” the farmers add.
Attorney Kathryn
Blair Craddock with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid is representing the group
of seven workers whom are seeking damages under the Agricultural Worker
Protection Act, as well as unpaid wages as promised through the Fair
Labor Standards Act.
Agriculturalists across America have
previously tried to take Monsanto to court over charges stemming from
their lab-made corn GMOs, but that case was a bit different. Over 2,000
farmers have petitioned the US government to more thoroughly investigate
the impact a genetically modified corn crop from Monsanto will have on
the country. As RT reported before, the biotech company wants to plant a
corn variant across America’s Midwest that will be resistant to a
powerful pesticide produced with 2,4-D, the same compound crucial to the
make-up of the notorious Vietnam War-era killer Agent Orange. If
approved, the new corn will be able to thrive as farmers douse their
fields in the chemical, killing off unwanted weeds in the process while
at the same time subjecting Americans to a pesticide linked to causing
cancer.
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