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PAC Members Distribute Baskets of Cheer at Christmas Time. 2003

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LETTER FOR THE RECORD-STATEMENT OF FACTS 

I, Tomasz Szczygiel, am a student visitor to the United States under the four-month J1 work-study program of the U. S. State Department. Administered by the Cultural International Education Exchange, CIEE.   

Upon arriving in the Cape May NJ area in early June, I signed a contract to work at McDonalds Shore Road and Sandman Blvd. in North Cape May at the direction of Ms. Penelopi Hodge (609-884-0840), a McDonald’s employee and my primary point of contact.  The terms of the contract as contained in the attachment(s). 

Upon arriving in the Cape May area at about 10:00 PM I was escorted to the McDonalds Restaurant where I was instructed to sign the contract.  This included the work and housing program. I had not yet had an opportunity see the residence provided by Ms. Hodge at a daily charge of $10/day ($300 per month), which was to be deducted from my pay.  I was told that an immediate deposit of $200/person was required as well as a two week advance rental payment.  A total of $340 was paid to Ms. Hodge prior to beginning work. No receipt was provided for this advance charges, however, Ms. Hodge said the deposit would be returned at the end of our work stay.  The residence, leased by Ms. Hodge, as I was to find out later, was to accommodate 15 (or more) people in a 4-bedroom apartment, some bedrooms being shared by 4 (or more) people with a single bathroom! 

I worked diligently at the McDonalds beginning on or about June 2, 2002.  After four days on the job I told my Mrs. Hodges’s that I would continue working for McDonalds however it was necessary to find less crowded living conditions. She became very, very upset.  I felt then, as I feel now, that from that point on I was not secure in working the hours I expected and would be at her mercy for hours I would work.   I assumed because of the way she was acting at the point towards me, she would not allow a change in housing or any other schedule change, therefore I had no alternative at that point but leave the job at McDonalds. When I told this to Mrs. Hodge, I was told to immediately leave the McDonalds premises and move out of the apartment that day.  I requested a return of the security deposit and unused advance housing charges of approximately $70 (or one week housing fee) I was told that there is a valid contract and I was in violation of the contract rules and nothing would be returned to me. I worked at McDonalds for a total of 4 days. In that I am a guest in the U.S. and would like to return some day, I felt that my only option was to accept what she had said. I left the building and moved out of the apartment that day.  

I searched and found alternate employment and have been working daily in Cape May.  The refund of the security deposit and excess housing is very important to me for continuing my education upon my return to Poland later this month.  I earned a total of approximately  $200 for the 4 days work.  Since I provided $340 in advance, for the security deposit and rental, which I used less than a week, I am due a refund of $270.   I have asked Mr. Slomski to represent and assist me in recovering the balance of money due me. I have no telephone number locally.  I return to Poland on Tuesday October 8, 2002.  If balance is not received prior to my return home, my home address is UL.Warszawska 31A/23, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland and can be reached there at telephone number 48 32 279 0928.

 

Witness to this Statement on October 2, 2002:  

Charles J Slomski President

Polish American Congress-Maryland Division 

Beverly Ann Slomski –Corresponding Secretary

Polish American Congress-Maryland Division

 

State Department faults McDonald's work program Foreign students' claims of exploitation 'well founded,' initial investigation shows

By Walter F. Roche Jr.
Sun Staff
Originally published August 27, 2002

 

A preliminary State Department investigation of charges by some foreign students that they were being exploited by the McDonald's restaurant chain has concluded that the students' complaints were "well founded."

In a letter to U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, a State Department official wrote that the agency was aware of "the unfortunate situation" faced by students who came here to work for the fast-food chain under a summer work/travel program.

"We have also determined that the complaints by the five students ... are well founded," wrote Paul V. Kelly, assistant secretary of legislative affairs, in the letter sent late last week to the Maryland Democrat.

The Sun reported last month that students from Poland and Slovakia complained that so much money was deducted from their initial paychecks that their net pay was zero. The bulk of the deductions were to pay $2,000-a-month rent for five students sharing a two-bedroom apartment in Abingdon. The students said they were told that if they didn't accept the apartment-rental arrangement, they would lose their promised jobs.

They were also charged $200 each for a security deposit. Other deductions were made for Social Security and Medicare coverage, despite the fact that the students were legally exempt from making those payments.

After the article was published, McDonald's officials said the students were refunded for the improper Medicare and Social Security deductions.

Robert L. Palmer, McDonald's regional marketing director, also promised to look into students' complaints that the rent for the apartment was excessive. The two-bedroom units in Abingdon rent for $750 a month under a one-year lease.

McDonald's officials were unavailable for comment yesterday.

 

400 recruited to area

More than 400 foreign students were recruited to work this summer at McDonald's outlets in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

They came to the United States under a government-sanctioned educational exchange program in which students work three months and take an additional month to travel. The students were recruited by Donna Maertens, a Virginia woman who serves as a consultant to the fast-food chain.

Kelly wrote in his letter that the McDonald's recruits were among about 6,400 Polish students who came to the United States under the auspices of the Council on International Educational Exchange, a nonprofit corporation based in New York City. CIEE is one of several organizations authorized by the State Department to issue work/travel visas.

 

Working for refunds

In his letter, Kelly said the CIEE was working with McDonald's officials to ensure that the students named in the article get a refund of their security deposits.

"We understand that McDonald's is also reviewing this matter to ensure that this situation is not repeated," the Kelly letter concluded.

Amy Hagovsky, a spokeswoman for Mikulski, said the senator is expecting a more complete report from the State Department once the investigation is complete.

Hagovsky said that when Congress ends its recess, the senator plans to review the report and determine what action is needed to see that the problems do not recur next year.

 

Help from Polish group

Several of the students recruited by McDonald's have since abandoned their jobs and living arrangements, and found other jobs and apartments with the help of the local chapter of the Polish American Congress.

The local chapter, headed by Charles J. Slomski, brought the plight of the students to the attention of Mikulski, who, in turn, asked the State Department to initiate the investigation.

Les Kuczynski, executive director of the Polish American Congress' national office in Chicago, said that though there appears to be relief available for the students recruited by McDonald's, hundreds of other students from Poland remain stranded in the United States because promised jobs did not exist.

He said there have been reports of foreign students stranded from Florida to Washington state.

"There are serious questions about this program that so far have not been answered," Kuczynski said, adding that his agency has been trying to assist those students who come seeking help in finding jobs or housing.

 

09-August-2002

Mikulski urges inquiry of McDonald's program

     Citing a series of apparent abuses, U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski has asked the State Department to investigate a program that has brought 400 foreign students to the United States to work in area McDonald's restaurants.

     Mikulski's request came in response to a resolution approved late last week by the Maryland Chapter of the Polish American Congress, which has intervened for several of the students who were recruited by McDonald's under  its International Placement Program.

    As The Sun reported last month, some of the students recruited by the restaurant chain to work in its outlets in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia ended up with net pay of nothing on their first checks because of deductions for housing.

    Five students from Poland said they were forced by a McDonald's agent to sign an agreement under which they had to pay $2,000 a month for a two-bedroom apartment in Abingdon, about triple the usual rate.  The rental contract listed McDonald's as the landlord.

   Charles J. Slomski, president of the local chapter of the Polish American Congress, said yesterday that his organization already had found alternative housing for two of the McDonald's recruits.  The two also found new jobs with the group's assistance.

    Slomski said his organization is also working to find any other recruits who want or need assistance.  He said they have asked officials of the restaurant chain to return the $200 security deposit each of the students was required to pay.

    The visas for the McDonald's program were issued through the Council on International Educational Exchange, a New York-based nonprofit organization.  Council officials have said they also are looking into the students' complaints.

 

03-August-2002

Message from the President  of PAC Baltimore, MD

     Last evening, Thursday Aug. 1, a meeting was held at the Polish National Alliance in Baltimore under the auspices of the Polish American Congress-Maryland Division to discuss the plight of 4 Polish youngsters as highlighted in the Baltimore Sunpaper article on Tuesday July 30 titled "Deductions wipe out foreign students' pay", by Staff writer Walter F. Roache Jr.

The U.S. State Department, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, grants approximately 16,000 visa's each year to foreign post secondary students worldwide to work in the U.S. for 4 months during their summer vacation. The program, under which these students are classed, is titled the Council for International Educational Exchange under the direction of Ms.Pamela Posey (888) 268-6245. Basically, the students come to the U.S. during the summer with a promise of a significant paying job and an opportunity to go back home after the 4 months with money to continue their education. As we were to discover during the meeting, nothing could be further from the truth for these students, as well as, horror stories about other exchange students nationwide.

To summarize the story as told us by Lukasz Lazuch, he and three other students paid a $500 fee to enroll in the program while in Poland plus another $1,000 airfare to begin their summer work in Maryland. Their nightmare began when they landed in NY on Friday with no one to greet them and they had to stay there for the weekend because their counsellor's answering machine said she would not be available until Monday to provide them guidance. When they finally reached Maryland, they ultimately were "dumped" at an isolated apartment in Abington Maryland with their luggage and rushed into signing a "standard" contract that benefited only McDonalds of Edgewood, their potential source of employment. The housing is in a rural setting approximately 7 miles from McDonald's. Transportation back and forth to their work is $15. For the two room apartment, that would normally rent for about $750 per month, they had to pay $2000 per month for a short term lease; pay $200 per person security deposit which non-refundable if the students leave the program. After limited hours of work, excessive travel expenses, inflated housing costs and possibly illegal deductions the pay checks given them were for $0 ! The initial funds they were required to bring with them at this point was gone, and there was no paycheck until the following Friday and .......................another round of deductions. As Delegate Carolyn Krysiak pointed out, "This reminds me of the old 'Company Store', where every cent earned is taken back as some deduction".

The purpose, of the meeting last evening, was to uncover the facts from the students perspective and to do two things: first, to help solve the students current dilemma, and second, to take action locally, regionally and stimulate attention nationally to this government sponsored program that is not working, at least in the cases we're familiar with.

*The immediate objective is to find suitable work and affordable housing for the two remaining students during the balance of their stay which is completed on October 10, 2002. Krystna Osowski volunteered to help find or provide housing to remove them from their current environment

. Prior to our next meeting on Tuesday, August 6th, sources of temporary employment will be investigated. The goal is to find employment close to the housing to minimize expenses, as well as, placing them in an urban setting so they will have an opportunity to experience the real America. Donations were collected at the meeting and given to Lukasz and Karol Tatar to tide them over.

*A resolution was prepared by Mr. Rybczynski and unanimously adopted that will be promulgated throughout our government structure to take immediate action to correct a problem for foreign exchange students and potentially having long ranging implications to the image of the United States worldwide. We do not accept the way these Polish students, or others under the J-1 visa work-travel program, are being treated.

Mr. Roache, the author of the original story in the Sunpapers, attended the meeting last evening and will be doing a follow-up story(s) on this matter. He is also travelling to Chicago to investigate similar problems as occurred in Maryland. We look forward to further exposure of this atrociously administered program, at least, in the cases we have heard about during this and past years and specifically to these young polish students. The full text of Mr. Roache's article can be seen at www.sunspot.net . In the Search box type "Foreign students' pay wiped out by deductions'.

Regards

Charles J Slomski - President

Polish American Congress-Maryland Division

 

  May 9, 2002

                

To all charter members of the Maryland Division of the Polish American Congress

 

We have been notified that our application to become the Maryland Division of the Polish American Congress has been approved and we can now conduct business on behalf and in the name of the organization.  Although the PAC Headquarters in Washington DC has questioned if we would have some formal installation program to recognize our new Division, perhaps we’ll have such a ceremony at a later date because now there is much work to be done, and that is our primary objective.  

Our first official meeting will be held on Thursday May 23th at the PNA beginning promptly at 7 PM. The first order of business must be the election of the Executive Committee which includes the Officers and Board of Directors as identified in our By-Laws.  All positions are open at this time although a list of those who have offered to serve in some capacity will be posted.  Please consider volunteering your talent and time to strengthen this new organization. 

Following the election, a list of goals and objectives of our Maryland Division, will be discussed to give firm direction to the leadership. Examples of involvement with our other Polish organizations include: Polish Heritage Month, Polish Constitution Day, regional cooperation with other PAC organizations, and seeking to establish a Polish Community Center with Baltimore City Officials.   There are many other areas that our PAC can play a vital and responsible role in promoting our Polish heritage in, as well as outside, our community.  All suggestions will be considered.  

At that time, I will also summarize the luncheon meeting held at the request of Ambassador Przemyslaw Grudzinski on Wed. May 8th at the Embassy to discuss the mid-July State Visit of Poland President Aleksander Kwasniewski and First Lady Jolanta to the United States.  PAC members may have an opportunity to participate in some of the activities, either in Michigan, Philadelphia or in Washington DC.   More information may be available by May 23th.  

On behalf of all those who helped bring about the PAC renewal, we thank you for joining with us to promote our Polish heritage and stimulate cooperation among all our Polish organizations.  Working together we will be successful!

 

Respectively 

Chuck Slomski

Acting President

 

 

 

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