Associated Press: Authorities Investigate Factory For 'Virtual Slaves'
Authorities Investigate Factory For 'Virtual Slaves'
by AP, The Associated Press
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TULSA, Okla. (AP) -- The U.S. Department of Labor is investigating a welding factory accused of locking up off-duty employees and forcing them to work for little more than $3 per hour.
The John Pickle Co. of Tulsa is treating its employees -- men from India -- as ``virtual slaves,'' federal officials said.
The Labor Department's regional office in Little Rock, Ark., is looking into the allegations.
The men were given food that was barely edible, authorities said. And records show the workers were not paid more than $3.17 an hour -- far below the $5.15 federal minimum wage.
The company says the foreign workers actually were employees of a company in Bombay, India, and were paid wages considered fair by Indian standards.
Federal officials rejected that explanation.
``It doesn't matter where you are from or who is signing your paycheck,'' Diana Petterson, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Labor, told the Tulsa World. ``If you are performing work on American soil, you are entitled to $5.15 an hour. That's the law.''
Officials also are concerned about reports that the Indian workers were confined against their will to a barracks on the factory grounds.
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