One of the most popular foreign exchange summer programs, organized by the U.S. State Department, is in the process of a major restructuring after hundreds of their program participants staged a walkout last summer at a Hershey’s Chocolate packing facility to protest low pay and dangerous job conditions. Imagine having to work grueling night shifts lifting heavy boxes of chocolate and then to go home with so little pay that dinner may not even be affordable.
It has taken almost a year for any significant action to take place, but the U.S. State Department finally began dealing with the problem today. After an investigation ordered by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, one of the summer program’s sponsors, the Council for Education Travel USA (CETUSA), has been banned from further participation in the program.
The exchange program’s purpose is to provide positive cultural exposure to the United States for foreign university students and CETUSA was ignoring this key principle. Instead of focusing on cultivating unforgettable, cultural experiences, CETUSA was focusing solely on labor. When students tried to complain, they were ignored and sometimes met with threats and ultimatums: if they didn’t stop complaining, then their visas would be cancelled. Clearly, something needed to be done.
In addition to banning CETUSA’s participation in the program, Rick Ruth, the acting deputy assistant secretary of state, told The New York Times that the U.S. State Department would be issuing new regulations in the upcoming months in order to expand the list of occupations prohibited for foreign summer workers. The list will restrict placements in construction, roofing, factory work, and industrial jobs as well as other careers that are statistically known to be the most dangerous.
Furthermore, the department will try to prevent too many foreign exchange students from working in the same location. The reasoning behind this is that being in the same placement limits their American experience since they have less opportunity to interact with Americans.
When hundreds of people join together to voice their concerns about injustice and unfair treatment, they will be heard. The U.S. State Department listened to the student protests last summer and is now able to make the necessary changes. Over the past decade, about one million foreign university students traveled to the U.S. through the Summer Work Travel program, a number that will surely grow if the U.S. State Department’s restructuring efforts are met with success.
Photo Sources:
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