Young workers from Latin America and Asia working at McDonald's in the US state of Pennsylvania on J-1 "cultural exchange" visas stopped work on March 6 to protest extreme exploitation. Supported by the National Guestworker Alliance they have demonstrated outside McDonald's headquarters and are planning an international day of action for June 6.

Like the J-1 workers at chocolatemaker Hershey's sub-contractors (read the story here [1]), the young workers had paid USD 3-4,000  each for the visas, charged extortionate rent for substandard housing, compelled to work long hours for sub-minimal wages and constantly threatened with deportation.

Some of them tell their stories in an interview with RadioLabour, available here [2].