By Stephen Kopko

Impunity Watch Reporter, North America

LITTLE ROCK, Arkansas – On Thursday, a petition to certify a settlement in a class action lawsuit against Superior Forestry Company by migrant workers was presented to federal district court.  The proposed settlement of almost three million dollars has the potential to be the largest payout to migrant workers ever.

The migrant workers brought a lawsuit in 2006 with the help of the Southern Poverty Law Center and two private law firms in Chicago.  They alleged that they were grossly underpaid by Superior Forestry.  According to the complaint, Superior took advantage of the migrants’ lack of ability to speak English to pay them less than the minimum wage and not pay the workers overtime.  Superior is one of the largest forestry contractors in the United States.  They are able to hire and recruit migrant workers from Mexico and Central American through a guest worker program.

The migrant workers asserted violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Migrant and Seasonal Workers Protection Act.  According to the Department of Labor, the Migrant and Seasonal Worker Protection Act provides employment opportunities for immigrants to do seasonal work in the United States.  Under the Act, the migrant’s employer must “pay workers their wages when they are due.”  Also, if the employer provides housing for migrant workers, the housing must meet federal and state health and safety guidelines.

Superior Forestry denies withholding pay from the migrant workers.  Instead of bringing the case to trial, they settled the case to avoid costly litigation expenses.  Superior stated that they paid the workers on a production basis instead of an hourly rate. The Southern Poverty Law Center stated that the settlement shows Superior’s guilt.  According to the Center, “this settlement sends a powerful message that these workers have rights and that their employers will be held accountable.”  The Center stressed that migrant workers are an exploited group of people who have the right to be compensated fairly for their work.  At the time of the settlement, approximately two thousand two hundred migrant workers participated in the class action suit.  The settlement has to be approved by a federal district court judge in a fairness hearing on March 26.

For more information, please see:

AP–Migrant forest workers get $2.75M wage settlement–12 February 2010

Earth Times-Migrant Tree Planters Find Justice: Forestry Company to Pay Record $2.75 Million Settlement to Foreign Guestworkers Seeking Back Wages–12 February 2010

NY Times–Migrants Win $2.75 Million–12 February 2010

Department of Labor-The Migrant and Seansonal Worker Protection Act