Mercedes drops subcontractor at Tuscaloosa plant following alleged foreign worker violations

Automaker Mercedes Benz has dropped a construction subcontractor at two of its auto plants following an investigative report by CBS News showed the company hired for construction at the plant was using hundreds of unauthorized foreign workers.

The report, which aired during the premier of the network’s new investigative series, “CBSN: On Assignment,” found that the Eastern European foreign workers hired by a subcontractor being used at the plant in Tuscaloosa County had obtained B1/B2 visas to work at the plant.

But B1/B2 visas require that the workers must be in a supervisory role, otherwise B1/B2 visas are not valid for construction projects. The CBS report showed that the workers were doing jobs substantially different from those allowed under the B1/B2 visas and at wages substantially lower than the average salary for an American construction worker in the same role.

B1/B2 visa program regulations such as the one the subcontractor allegedly violated were put in place to protect American workers from losing out to lesser-paid foreign workers.

Read more: http://www.alreporter.com/2017/08/02/mercedes-drops-subcontractor-tuscaloosa-plant-following-alleged-foreign-worker-violations/