mcdonalds, slum lord...

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Chicago Tribune

 

,

 

U.S.A.

 

McDonald's Paycheck has Foreign Student FedUp

 

ABINGDON, Md. -- When Peter Kasprzyk and several other

students from Poland and Slovakia arrived this summer to work for

the McDonald's restaurant chain, they said they had been told

they would make a lot of money, " more money than you could

imagine. "

 

But Kasprzyk could not buy an item from the dollar menu with

his first paycheck. It was zero.

 

That's because he and four fellow students were docked for

$2,000 monthly rent on a two-bedroom apartment they share in

Abingdon that normally goes for $750 a month. That deduction

wiped out every cent Kasprzyk made flipping hamburgers for $8 an

hour at a McDonald's outlet.

 

On top of those deductions, Kasprzyk had to pay $200 for a

security deposit on the apartment, and share the $20 daily

round-trip cab fare to work.

 

" We were taken advantage of, " said the 22-year-old Pole, who

decided to walk away from the job and risk forfeiting his

apartment security deposit.

 

McDonald's, which was listed as his landlord on the unsigned

duplicate of the three-page apartment lease, refused to comment

at first, with corporate headquarters officials referring

questions about the students' situation to the regional office in

Baltimore.

 

That office, in turn, referred all questions to Donna

Maertens, of Stafford, Va., who has recruited about 400 foreign

students this year for temporary jobs at McDonald's restaurants

from Maryland to Virginia

 

On Friday, Robert Palmer, regional marketing director for the

fast-food chain, said the company had taken steps to answer

complaints from the students.

 

For her part, Maertens said the students signed a contract

before they came to this country.

 

" They were told everything, " she said. " They have orientation

sessions. They know all the conditions. " Maertens said the rent

was higher than normal because it was for a shorter period than

the normal lease and included furniture and utilities.

 

Kasprzyk and his colleagues said they were pressured by

Maertens' agent to sign the English-language rental agreement

without adequate time to read and understand it.

 

Group gets involved

 

The Maryland chapter of the Polish American Congress

unanimously adopted a resolution calling for hearings into the

situation after meeting Thursday with the students.

 

" It's immoral, if it's not illegal, " said Edward Rybczynski,

who offered the resolution. " We're talking about people being

used and abused. It's un-American. "

 

The resolution asks members of the Maryland congressional

delegation to conduct hearings on the apparent abuses and on

requiring the licensing of any recruiters. The group also asked

for an investigation by state officials

 

The students came to the United States under J-1 visas as

part of a work-travel program authorized by the State Department.

Maertens said the visas were issued through the Council on

International Educational Exchange, a New York City-based

non-profit organization that brings thousands of foreign students

to this country every year.

 

Stanley Colvin, head of the State Department bureau that

oversees the work-travel visa program, said the complaints from

the students were being investigated.

 

Under the program, foreign students may spend as long as four

months working in the United States and take an additional month

to tour and travel.

 

Kasprzyk and his fellow workers said they paid $500 to sign

up with Maertens' program and $1,000 for airfare.

 

They expected to spend a profitable summer but were swiftly

disappointed. Instead of working eight-hour shifts at McDonald's,

they said they were sent home when business slowed down.

 

" It's hypocritical, " Kasprzyk said. " They smile only to tell

you, `Go home. " '

 

Take-home pay: $0

 

As a result, he worked only 17.22 hours during his first pay

period, which ended July 6, and earned gross pay of $137.76,

according to his pay stub.

 

But that amount was wiped out by deductions. The pay stub,

which misspells his name as " Piotor J. Kasprzyk, " shows $2 was

subtracted for Medicare and $8.54 for Social Security. These

deductions were made even though students participating in the

J-1 program are exempt from those payments, Colvin said.

 

By far the largest amount subtracted was listed under the

category, " voluntary deductions. " A total of $127.22 was taken

out for " crew housing deduction. " Added to the payments for

Medicare and Social Security, the deductions totaled $137.76,

exactly the amount he had earned.

 

Kasprzyk said the other students also complained to CIEE but

were told the same thing they had heard from Maertens: You signed

a contract, now you have to live with it.

 

" It could be a misunderstanding or a lack of clear

communication, " said CIEE spokeswoman Pamela Posey, who promised

to look into the matter.

 

Palmer said the students were being reimbursed for the

incorrect Social Security and Medicare deductions. He explained

that the problem occurred because they had not filled out the

proper forms.