BALITA EXCLUSIVE!

Aramark ‘petitioned’ for 33 Filipinos but many ended up working for another company

By Rhony Laigo

Balita Media News Services

A FORMER Filipino seaman who used to work as a waiter for 10 years in a cruise liner arrived in the U.S. last July for what he thought was for a job with one of America’s leading cleaning services in Virginia. However, no one from Aramark met them at a New Jersey airport and was apparently duped by a suspected human trafficking ring that may involve Filipinos operating on the west coast.

Rufino Martin De Guzman Jr. came to the BALITA MEDIA offices on Tuesday with his story claiming that not only does the job in Virginia not exist but the promised $7.25 per hour job to clean hotels became $4.75 per room, and with another company called Royal Hospitality Services Inc.

De Guzman said there were 18 of them who might have been hoodwinked by a syndicate that he said may involve a job placement agency in the Philippines and a U.S.-based firm that sponsored their temporary or seasonal workers visa under the H-2B Visa program.

According to De Guzman, a staffing agency he identified as Adman was the one responsible for recruiting them to work in the U.S. for Aramark for a “Seasonal Work Program” and with a “guaranteed wage” of $7.25 per hour. A “document” De Guzman presented to BALITA MEDIA showed that a certain Margaret Kobler signed the contract on behalf of Aramark which advertises on its website as the “leader in professional services, providing award-winning food services, facilities management, and uniform and career apparel to health care institutions, universities and school districts, stadiums and arenas, and businesses around the world.” According to Wikipedia “Aramark’s revenues reached $12.3 billion in 2009 and was listed as the 189th largest employer on the Fortune 500.”

However, after paying around $6,000 for their job placement and work visas, he and another Filipino recruit were told that they will instead be working in Biloxi, Mississippi. Upon arrival in Newark, New Jersey last July, no one from Aramark met them at the airport and they learned from a contact person over the phone that their job was “transferred” to Mississippi.

Left with no other options, De Guzman told BALITA MEDIA that they had to travel by train from Newark to Philadelphia to board a Greyhound bus to go to Biloxi even without any address or exact destination except for the “trust” that someone would meet them at the bus station. Somebody met them alright, however, the person, who identified himself as “Arthur,” presented a different contract for them to sign before he could offer them a job and a place to stay.

According to De Guzman, the new contract from a company called Royal Hospitality Services LLC stated amongst other provisions that the regular wage per room is $4.75 and that the minimum rooms that they would have to clean was 14. A copy was provided to BALITA MEDIA.

Reluctantly, De Guzman told BALITA MEDIA that he accepted the offer. However, during training, which paid them $8 per hour, he said it was “difficult for us to meet the 14-room requirement.” He said, “The rooms were huge. The most that you could do was 10.”

Sensing that he might be a victim of human trafficking, De Guzman decided to leave for Los Angeles with another Filipino worker and sought the help of Philippine officials. Overseas Workers Welfare Administration Welfare Officer Alberto Adonis C. Duero is handling their case.

BALITA MEDIA called Royal Hospitality Services on Wednesday and was able to talk to Artur Grigoryan who admitted he met De Guzman and his companion at the bus station because a representative from a Manila agency, which he declined to identify, informed him that the two didn’t have a job and had no place to go.

“A person from the Philippines contacted me,” Grigoryan told BALITA MEDIA “and told me that they didn’t have a job.” Grigoryan also told BALITA MEDIA that he offered them with a job and a place to stay in Biloxi. “I gave him (De Guzman) money to buy food and provided an apartment for them. But he (De Guzman) left and did not even give me any notice that he would leave.”

When asked if he knew that they were supposed to be working for Aramark, Grigoryan told BALITA MEDIA that “I didn’t know that. I don’t know anything.” When queried, Grigoryan said that as far as he was concerned the $4.75 per room “does not violate any labor laws” and that “it was not difficult to clean 14 rooms” in one day, which he said would eventually amount to a $9 per hour wage rate for a day if met.

Grigoryan said he didn’t know anything about the immigration status of the Filipinos and added he was at the bus station to meet them and offer them a job and housing. He further declined to give BALITA MEDIA more details about the other Filipinos. De Guzman said there were five of them in their apartment and about 10 more Filipinos were being housed in two more units.

De Guzman said it was Aramark which filed for their H-2B visa petition. A copy of De Guzman’s H-2B visa stated that the petitioner was “Aramark Sports LLC” and valid from April 1, 2010 to Nov. 30, 2010. Even De Guzman’s visa issued by the U.S. Embassy in Manila was annotated with the inscription “Aramark Food & Support Services Group Inc.”

The Manila agency that recruited them, according to De Guzman, was Adman Human Resources Placement and Promotions located on Taft Ave. in Manila. The Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) website stated that the agency’s status has been suspended.

De Guzman’s H-2B petition was good for 33 workers certified by the U.S. Department of Labor for “Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers.” The same Dept. of Labor document showed that De Guzman and 32 others will be working in Luray, Virginia. BALITA MEDIA inquired from DOL about De Guzman and Aramark. The DOL’s public affairs sent an email to BALITA MEDIA that they are “working on this matter  so that we can properly reply to your inquiry.”

BALITA MEDIA called Aramark to find out if they were aware of the status of De Guzman and other Filipinos in Biloxi. BALITA MEDIA also wanted to find out if Aramark indeed filed for their H-2B visas.

BALITA MEDIA called Aramark and left a message for a certain Margaret Kobler, who according to a POEA document, is the human resources manager for Aramark, on Wednesday and on Thursday, and who is also identified as the same person who signed the H-2B petition.

On Friday, BALITA MEDIA received a call from David Freireich of Aramark’s communication department, who had this to say, “Our parks and destinations business does not provide any services in Mississippi and does not employ any seasonal overseas employees in Mississippi. We are committed to complying with the law in all of our hiring practices and policies and are looking into these allegations.”

BALITA MEDIA also called and left messages for Atty. David Barger of Greenberg Traurig LLP, a Maryland-based law firm, which according to Philippine officials, represents Aramark. As of press time, the law firm has yet to return our calls.

(Rhony Laigo is the editor-in-chief of Balita, the leading Filipino-American newspaper  in Southern California. For comments, please email him at rhony@balita.com or visit their website at www.balita.com.) ?

 

 

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