CINRAM is a major manufacturer of pre-recorded DVD's. They have a plant in Huntsville where they make and ship DVDs. They advertise continuously on the radio for jobs. They sound like an ok company to work for, but here is the catch, they pay $8.00 an hour. At the Burger King here you start at $8.50. Madison County has an unemployment rate of >3% most of the time, and is one of the few parts of Alabama that is growing.
Since they cannot fill these jobs locally, they have about 1,000 workers on H2B visas come over for the year. Mostly they are from Jamaica and Nepal. One of the local politicos is unhappy about this and is going to try and change the state law to require companies using H2B to provide medical care for their workers and some other requirements.
Of course, the publicity meant that the HSV paper, The Huntsville Times, hunted down the workers and talked to them. The article doesn't make the company look good. Most of the workers, it reads, are being taken advantage of by those who house and transport them. One group of 4 ladies from Jamaica pay $1320 a month for a two bedroom apartment with no furniture and a ride to and from work. They average less then $250 a week in pay. The article for some reason is not on line, I will scan it in a post it. But anyway here are some links.
Anyway, this has all the makings of a mess for CINRAM. See: Wikipeida - CINRAM
And:
Tax resolution omits Cinram
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