Filipinos say they worked for $3 per hour in L.A. bakery

Photo courtesy of QUINCY SURASMITH / ADVANCING JUSTICE – LA

Plaintiff Romar Cunana spoke out against L’Amande French Bakery owners during a press conference last week. 

HUMAN TRAFFICKING is a form of modern-day slavery. It is not just happening in Third World countries. It exists in America; oftentimes, right under our noses. It could even occur in a fancy French bakery catering to the Beverly Hills set who have a hankering for the flaky, sweet creations.

In the most recent example, 11 Filipino bakery workers say they were lured to the U.S. by the promise of high wages to support their families back home. Instead, they claim in a lawsuit filed last week, they were forced to work 14-hour days for as little as $3 per hour at 

L'Amande French Bakery in Beverly Hills and Torrance, California.

The bakery owners are a couple from the Philippines, Analiza and Goncalo Moitinho de Almeida, who reportedly own bakeries in that country.

The workers allege that they were employed in the couple's bakeries in the Philippines before coming to the U.S., with "limited English skills and little to no understanding of U.S. customs and laws," or the cost of living. The complaint alleges the Almeidas paid their visa and travel fees up front, then later held the costs against them as debt, to the tune of $11,000 apiece. Some workers said they were told the visa amounted to a five-year contract requiring them to work.

Besides the ACLU, the 11 workers filed the lawsuit with the assistance of Asian Americans Advancing Justice. Laboni Hoq, a lawyer with the L.A.-based advocacy group, said in a statement last week that the E-2 visa is "ripe for abuse and employer misuse," and called it "overdue for reform."

"By offering a largely unregulated avenue for wealthy foreign nationals to get a competitive advantage in the U.S. marketplace," Hoq said, "the E-2 visa allows unscrupulous foreign investors to bring in immigrant workers who can be forced to accept abusive working conditions or risk deportation and retaliation in their home country."

Hired in the Philippines and brought to the U.S. as specialty bakers, the workers found themselves doing landscaping and domestic work for the owners besides all the work done at the artisan bakeries.

In most cases, exploited workers fear coming forward because the employers threaten them with withholding salaries or deportation. It is common practice among these abusive bosses to hold on to the workers' passports.

At a press conference announcing the suit, some of the workers expressed that their families in the Philippines will be harassed because of their involvement in the lawsuit. One plaintiff said that her family in the Philippines had to move after someone paid her husband a visit “because I was suing my employer in America.”

Ana is the daughter of Mila Santos, a realty businesswoman and Juan B. Santos, the Chairman of Social Security Commission/Social Security System and a retired CEO of Nestle Philippines.

The United States is a source, transit and destination country for some of these men, women and children — both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals — who are subjected to the injustices of human trafficking, including forced labor, debt bondage, involuntary servitude, and sex trafficking. Trafficking in persons can occur in both lawful and illicit industries or markets, including in brothels, massage parlors, street prostitution, hotel services, hospitality, agriculture, manufacturing, janitorial services, construction, health and elder care, and domestic service, among others. Include bakeries, now.

The federal government oversees a host of guestworker programs that employers say fill critical holes in the U.S. labor supply, like nurses, teachers, researchers or engineers for the tech industry. As far as I know, there is not a shortage of bakers in America.

If you suspect human trafficking, or you're a victim:

Call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888.

The National Human Trafficking Resource Center (NHTRC) is a national, toll-free hotline available to answer calls from anywhere in the country, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, every day of the year. The NHTRC is not a law enforcement or immigration authority and is operated by a nongovernmental organization funded by the federal government. In an emergency, call 911.