Foreign Workers Get Support

The Indian nationals who claim they were treated like "virtual slaves" by a Tulsa company are getting help from civil rights leaders in Oklahoma City.<br><br>Members of the NAACP, local churches and community

Sunday, June 16th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The Indian nationals who claim they were treated like "virtual slaves" by a Tulsa company are getting help from civil rights leaders in Oklahoma City.

Members of the NAACP, local churches and community groups rallied behind the workers in a plea to state officials to end abuses against migrant workers.

Some people in Oklahoma City are making a plea for Indian nationals who claim they were abused by a Tulsa Company.

Twenty six men from India say they came to America to work for the John Pickle Company for nearly 8-hundred dollars a month. They say once they arrived they were treated like slaves and paid little more than 2 dollars an hour.

Today Oklahoma City community leaders gathered on behalf of the Indian nationals to ask state labor commissioner Brenda Reneau Wynn for help.

They drew upon the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King.

"We need to stand up for what is right; he said straighten up your back, because a man can't ride when he's standing up. And that's what these men here behind us are doing here today."

The John Pickle Company continues to deny the migrant workers' claims.