I-Team Investigates KI Foreign Worker Program?

[Guest kwindshawne]

I don't know much about this business, but being an exchange student, do they have someone that checks on them periodically to make sure all is well? If not, they should. I have pity for them personally. They are human beings like we are, and if I were financially able, I would help them. I would want them to go back home and rave about what an awesome place this is, not what is likely going to happen now. I have lived in low income housing, and even when I did, we did not have exposed wires, doors that didn't lock, etc. Those are basic things.

[Erosarrow05]

Gordon Bombay,

1. The internationals could take the work van to and from the park to catch the bus - the segment never specified if they had to be working to utilize it.

2. I suggest you look into cab rates before you start assuming they are extremely expensive - especially split between multiple people.

3. At least my post had a little more substance than the ever present non-moderator slap on the hand

There are a substantial amount of "what ifs" in this story. Is Kings Island in the wrong? Maybe. Is the agency that placed them to blame? Maybe. Did these students really utilize all avenues to get resolutions to their complaints? I refuse to believe so.

If this story was from a bunch of inner city kids, or preppy kids from Springboro it would not have made it to the news. Because these internationals are easily portrayed as victims by media, the I-Team will jump on the story...

If i were Kings Island, i would be thinking about who i invited to my 2009 announcement....

As a side bar, something that has bothered me for an extremely long time... A few years back, when living in Cincinnati, there was a Styrene leak on the east side by my residence. This was literally breaking news for the i-team for 2-3 days non stop. It was the only important story. What really bothered me, was that there was this little rain storm called Hurricane Katrina that blew in to New Orleans those same days, yet it was only seriously covered after the styrene leak was deemed "non-threatening".

Since that moment, Cincinnati news to me, is a joke. I was embarrassed to live on Beechmont Ave... Oh well....

[LongliveKingsCobra]

If you watched the show some people could not find seats in the van. So why would I (who needed to work) let someone in to go "Play"?

Gordon Bombay,

1. The internationals could take the work van to and from the park to catch the bus - the segment never specified if they had to be working to utilize it.

2. I suggest you look into cab rates before you start assuming they are extremely expensive - especially split between multiple people.

3. At least my post had a little more substance than the ever present non-moderator slap on the hand

Don't be comin' at Gordan like that!

sorry Had to....

And have you, yes YOU , have you looked into cab rates as well?

for the third statement....Im not going to draw attention to it....

[Gordon Bombay]

Haha, he's more than welcome to quote me and reply to me, relax cobra, I don't think he was "attacking" me, merely just discussing the topic at hand.

Gordon Bombay,

1. The internationals could take the work van to and from the park to catch the bus - the segment never specified if they had to be working to utilize it.

No it did not, so assuming they can't use it is just as pointless as as assuming they could take it work to catch a bus downtown.

2. I suggest you look into cab rates before you start assuming they are extremely expensive - especially split between multiple people.

Certainly feel free to point me in the direction of the copious amounts of cabs in the West Chester/Suburban Cincinnati area then. Unless your downtown, a private cab would need to be in order, and for international kids working a low paying job living in a place where they need to pay $1200 for rent, cab fare may not be all that affordable.

3. At least my post had a little more substance than the ever present non-moderator slap on the hand

No one slapped anyone on the wrist, just a discussion going on about the i-team story, how about we keep it that way? Ok, good.

There are a substantial amount of "what ifs" in this story. Is Kings Island in the wrong? Maybe. Is the agency that placed them to blame? Maybe. Did these students really utilize all avenues to get resolutions to their complaints? I refuse to believe so.

If there are so many unanswered questions as you pointed out, then why are you so quick to not believe the students?

[Guest kwindshawne]

I rode a cab in connecticut back in 1985 3 miles down the road. It cost me $20-for 3 miles. I would think a 5 day work week would pretty much eat up any income made at the park, especially now that it's $4.15/gal.

[BavarianBeatle]

Where are these people from? They could always go to many countries and work in a sweatshop for 16 hours a day. And the pay for that 16 hour day may be a few dollars, at best. And, if they complained about the conditions in those countries, there would be consequenses............ Unlike in America where we have freedom of speech.....

[LongliveKingsCobra]

Sorry Gordon...

And if they have to pay 1200 for a room I doubt they have enough money to go down into the city for a night.

Now if they got to pay less, then sure they would have enough to go "play"

Just my thought....

[Erosarrow05]

Lets go ahead and rewind here just for a second. No one person is paying 1200 dollars a month. 4 people (maybe more?) are paying the "1200" which would be 300 dollars each and of course, that is much more affordable.

Cobra, have I, yes I, I looked in to cab rates? As a matter of fact I have and am very familiar with taxi fares as I utilize that specific service regularly within my travels. I think it is you that is unfamiliar with cab rates. I suggest you google Cincinnati area taxi's serving the West Chester area to get specific fares. All Cincinnati taxi milage rates are the same @ 1.60 a mile. (Apparently prices have gone down since 1985)

I cant imagine that they live that far away from civilization. So if we just assume that they live about 5 miles or less from the restaurants and IKEA in West Chester, that would be a 10 mile round trip ride, totaling 16 bucks, split 4 ways is 4 dollars. I think they can afford 4 dollars.

If I had to guesstimate an average work hours per week, I would bet around 50 - 55 hours per week @7.00 = 1500 (ish) before taxes. After taxes I would think around 1100 dollars, minus 300 for rent so we're down to 800 dollars. Considering that is around 800 dollars that no gas comes out of, that's not too bad.

I guess I'm just thinking out loud... I just have a hard time believing that the people i saw on I-Team, the clean shaven, well dressed, bathed individuals are in the misery they claim.

[LongliveKingsCobra]

While I worked there, my total hours were 15 a week....

15 x 7= 105 -the food you have to purchase at the park (which is pretty good, a dolor for a cheese burger.) so about 4-5 a day so if they work three days that week.... then well our get it, not to mention they do not work everyday, or even every other day.

Kings Island loves to over hire, then lay off people and fire them too.

So these kids may not work for three days...

Im surprised they don't have to pay for the shuttle too.....

[Erosarrow05]

You must have worked for a different Kings Island than I did... I'll have to go dig up some pay stubs - I was able to work essentially as many hours as I could stomach and made okay cash for my age.

"Kings Island loves to over hire, then lay off people and fire them too."

I could not disagree more. There are certain number of bodies and hours that are budgeted for each ride, food location, game and whatnot when you reach your budget you stop hiring for that location. There is not a mysterious surplus of employees just waiting to work. It was not uncommon for 5 -6 times a week associates were sent to other rides for lack of staffing, or other departments for lack of staffing.

Perhaps you should have asked if there were any additional hours you could pick up, because at the Kings Island I worked at, there were plenty.

[A_Titanic_Mess]

Wow...this story certainly does not showcase Kings Island in a positive light. Frankly, Don H's refusal to answer the question as to whether the employees would be fired for talking to the i-team should get him fired. His answer should have been a resounding NO, the employees would not be terminated for speaking with the i-team. Kind of ironic that the employees refer to the housing as like "being in a prison". Cedar Point has been called Cedar Prison by the employees there for many years now. This story is a complete embarasment to Kings Island. Can't wait to hear the fall-out from this story. I bet the nameless HR lady mentioned in the story will soon be looking for a new job!

[BavarianBeatle]

well, in the last few posts, I've heard that KI workers are "in prison" and that they can't get more than 15 hours of work a week. I never worked there, but this seems like one of those arguments that depends upon the perspective of the speaker and will not be resolved easily.

But this is the 4th of July................. We are all free to work at KI or anywhere else we choose. And we can quit any job we don't like, and we can say whatever we want about any employer, within certain reasonable boundaries, and we can criticize our government and its policies with regard to the regulation of our employers of for anything our government does!!! And we can choose to serve in the military and defend those freedoms, or we can choose to denigrate the military... etc, etc, etc

Like I said, this is the 4th of July. Remember our freedom, and those who have suffered and died defending it!!!!

[LongliveKingsCobra]

Im stopping this argument. Its pointless and getting no where.

[WooferBearATL]

Wow...this story certainly does not showcase Kings Island in a positive light. Frankly, Don H's refusal to answer the question as to whether the employees would be fired for talking to the i-team should get him fired. His answer should have been a resounding NO, the employees would not be terminated for speaking with the i-team. Kind of ironic that the employees refer to the housing as like "being in a prison". Cedar Point has been called Cedar Prison by the employees there for many years now. This story is a complete embarasment to Kings Island. Can't wait to hear the fall-out from this story. I bet the nameless HR lady mentioned in the story will soon be looking for a new job!

Now let me see. Kings Island sits within an At Will State. So the park or the employer can dismiss you unless it's for reason of religion, disability or age. Employees are not permitted to give statements regarding the park without the parks consent. So tell me why the park would not be within it's right to terminate the employement?

[Browntggrr]

Cedar Point has been called Cedar Prison by the employees there for many years now.

Wow.

Another case of summer workers not happy with their job!

Imagine that!

I know when I was in college that when the summer started I loved my barely above minimum wage job. How dare CP give these kids employment, housing, food, and free admisson to the park all summer long. When the alternative would be living at mommy & daddy's house all summer and working at the local Whippy Dip after living on your own at the college dorm for the last 9 months.

Bottom line, with the exception of the international students (as long as the story has not been grossley exaggerated), if a college student does not like their job, go somewhere else. There are enough glory stories of working at CP to equal the horror stories. If you can make more money somewhere else and have a better experience, then why did you even bother of applying at CP?

[A_Titanic_Mess]

Wow...this story certainly does not showcase Kings Island in a positive light. Frankly, Don H's refusal to answer the question as to whether the employees would be fired for talking to the i-team should get him fired. His answer should have been a resounding NO, the employees would not be terminated for speaking with the i-team. Kind of ironic that the employees refer to the housing as like "being in a prison". Cedar Point has been called Cedar Prison by the employees there for many years now. This story is a complete embarasment to Kings Island. Can't wait to hear the fall-out from this story. I bet the nameless HR lady mentioned in the story will soon be looking for a new job!

Now let me see. Kings Island sits within an At Will State. So the park or the employer can dismiss you unless it's for reason of religion, disability or age. Employees are not permitted to give statements regarding the park without the parks consent. So tell me why the park would not be within it's right to terminate the employement?

Bottom line is the story presented was not favorable to Kings Island. The statements the employees gave were about the sub-par housing situation, and what they felt were misleading statements by the HR department in recruiting them to work for the season. If Kings Island is foolish enough to terminate them because they spoke out about the horrible living situation, then the park will get what it deserves...even more bad publicity. To answer your questions more directly, yes, the park has every right to terminate the employment of anyone it wishes, at any time, for any reason. However terminating the employees who spoke out would smack of retaliation against them, which is petty. Kings Island needs to suck it up, and live up to their end of the bargain. These are kids/teenagers in a foreign country, and KI should be ashamed of how this has played out. I don't know Don H., so this is not a personal attack, but frankly his job is to put a good spin on this, and he came off to me as a bit fake and unprepared....just my opinion.

[WooferBearATL]

Bottom line is the story presented was not favorable to Kings Island. The statements the employees gave were about the sub-par housing situation, and what they felt were misleading statements by the HR department in recruiting them to work for the season. If Kings Island is foolish enough to terminate them because they spoke out about the horrible living situation, then the park will get what it deserves...even more bad publicity. To answer your questions more directly, yes, the park has every right to terminate the employment of anyone it wishes, at any time, for any reason. However terminating the employees who spoke out would smack of retaliation against them, which is petty. Kings Island needs to suck it up, and live up to their end of the bargain. These are kids/teenagers in a foreign country, and KI should be ashamed of how this has played out. I don't know Don H., so this is not a personal attack, but frankly his job is to put a good spin on this, and he came off to me as a bit fake and unprepared....just my opinion.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you on this one.

We've all seen I-Team reports. The idea of the report is to sensationalize things as much as possible.

I'm not saying that the park is right or wrong on this matter, but certainly does have the right to limit statements that it's employees make.

One simply can not expect to make statements to the media (without speaking with their public relations department) and expect to keep their jobs. My goodness, people around the country are terminated for far less every day!

[LongliveKingsCobra]

True woofer, when I worked in the spring, You sign a contract saying that you will not go/ make any announcements with out the parks full consent. You Will be fired. With the new attraction? Some people know what it is, some people don't if one of those people were to go and leak info. I bet you they would be fired on the spot regardless if it was to another employee...

Just my two cents, take it or leave it.

[Avatar]

I just have on side of the story here so I think it’s imposable for me to make a intelligent assessment of the story, but think that Kings Island can make this into a positive public relations story. As far as Don response; he did try to answer the question albeit very vague but I do not think deciding on employees employment is in his job description or for him to decide. Basically he is the Spokesperson for the park and not the Human relations department, he makes statements and puts out information that Kings Island needs to be put out and when they want him to do so. Anything above that would be improper, I think he did his job here.

[A_Titanic_Mess]

Bottom line is the story presented was not favorable to Kings Island. The statements the employees gave were about the sub-par housing situation, and what they felt were misleading statements by the HR department in recruiting them to work for the season. If Kings Island is foolish enough to terminate them because they spoke out about the horrible living situation, then the park will get what it deserves...even more bad publicity. To answer your questions more directly, yes, the park has every right to terminate the employment of anyone it wishes, at any time, for any reason. However terminating the employees who spoke out would smack of retaliation against them, which is petty. Kings Island needs to suck it up, and live up to their end of the bargain. These are kids/teenagers in a foreign country, and KI should be ashamed of how this has played out. I don't know Don H., so this is not a personal attack, but frankly his job is to put a good spin on this, and he came off to me as a bit fake and unprepared....just my opinion.

Sorry, but I have to disagree with you on this one.

We've all seen I-Team reports. The idea of the report is to sensationalize things as much as possible.

I'm not saying that the park is right or wrong on this matter, but certainly does have the right to limit statements that it's employees make.

One simply can not expect to make statements to the media (without speaking with their public relations department) and expect to keep their jobs. My goodness, people around the country are terminated for far less every day!

We agree to disagree. KI has every right to terminate the employees, but in my opinion it is NOT the right thing to do, Doing so could only make matters worse for the park. Don H. should have stated "No, these kids will not be terminated for speaking out"...he could not do that, so what does that tell you about the way KI works? How would you feel if you were the parents of these kids, who are now working for the summer in a foreign country, living in sub-par conditions, not getting what was promised when you signed up. The difference for us is that we could quit, and move on to other jobs. These kids probably have no choice, I would guess their work visas are tied to their employment at KI. Let's hope you never find yourself in this situtation. Sounds like poor planning on the part of KI, and now it has been exposed.

[Browntggrr]

Don't forget about what XGatorhead mentioned:

In the ad, one of the guys says that he feels "like we are in prison". My wife saw this ad last night, and she is very sure that the guy who made that remark is none other than Jorge, the ride op who gave me an attitude at Racer: see the lowlights section of Trip #6 here.

This story could be just the common disgruntled employee(s). And his TR was back from 6/1/08.

From the article:

But some of the students tell a different story. Jorge from the Dominican Republic says, "They told us really nice things 'til we get here."

The students are living for three or more months in an apartment complex under extreme renovation. To get to their apartments they have to walk past missing ceilings, dangling doors, exposed wires, and sticky sub-floors.

Some of the apartments have mold, bugs, and sliding doors that won't lock. Miguel walks down a hallway with exposed ceilings and ripped-up carpeting and mutters: "In my country we don't live like this."

Frank, also from the Dominican Republic, says "It's terrible. I feel very, very bad here." Jorge adds, "We're humans."

After thinking about this for awhile, there are some things that just don't make sense.

If you wanted to work at KI for the summer, wouldn't you know how much money you would be making? So if it costs (assuming that the figures the report are true) $3000 for travel, and another $1200/ month for living quarters, you would need to make at least 4X that to make ends meet, make some money, and have extra cash in your pocket just so it would be worthwhile.

I also have a difficult time believing that the apartment costs $1200/ pp/ month. If you are living with 4 other people that would be a $4800/ month apartment. All I have to say about that is, are they commuting from Manhatten? Now the article does not specifically say that each are paying $1200 or if that the $1200 is shared between the 4 roommates, but that is proof of how some of these "I" team investigations like to put a spin on things.

But let's guess that the $1200 is split between the 4 roommates. That would be about $4000 for travel to the US and a roof over your head for 3 months. And at (guessing) $8/ hour, even if you worked 40 hours for 13 weeks, that comes to just above $4000. Why would it be worth it to come?

I used VERY rough numbers. But even at that, why would any intelligent person agree to that type of pay, along with cost of living and trvel expenses to begin with?

Unless, we have not heard the full story. And I am going to assume we have not.

[teenageninja]

There is no way those apartments are 1200 a month per person. I could see 1200 for the summer, with utilities would be pretty fair. To put my spin on this. I live at UC and I live in a dorm style house within the Stratford Heights community down there (which has terrible management, but that's not the point), but a shared double room within the house is 465 a month per person. That is about the going rate for the dorms as well, so they are probably saving money. Cabs in Cincinnati are what were stated above, a nominal charge (usually 3.60 for a group of 4) + 1.60 a mile. If they wanted to go downtown they could ride the cab to a bus stop, get on the bus and ride the cab back. There are a few stops that run from West Chester/ Mason downtown every day of the week. This seems to be a case of disgruntled workers attacking the tyrant. Housing contracts get changed, people get moved (I just had to move with 5 days notice this past week) and guess what, I wasn't happy about it either. Things could be worse for them, they just needed to ask questions to someone (I'm sure someone in their department knows how they could get downtown, there is a stop that runs downtown from KIs turn around by the way. Also, if they think they are going to get paid more than everyone else because they are from another country, they are crazy. If they wanted a real American Amusement park experience for working, they should have went to Cedar Point, with a proven International working program already.

/rant off.

[The Interpreter]

Viewers react:

http://www.kypost.com/content/wcposhared/s...32-fd8611d93cdd

[BoddaH1994]

Wow...this story certainly does not showcase Kings Island in a positive light. Frankly, Don H's refusal to answer the question as to whether the employees would be fired for talking to the i-team should get him fired. His answer should have been a resounding NO, the employees would not be terminated for speaking with the i-team. Kind of ironic that the employees refer to the housing as like "being in a prison". Cedar Point has been called Cedar Prison by the employees there for many years now. This story is a complete embarasment to Kings Island. Can't wait to hear the fall-out from this story. I bet the nameless HR lady mentioned in the story will soon be looking for a new job!

Yet another case of ignorance over facts.

The actual answer is YES, they should have been fired. This is not simply my opinion. It is stated in their handbook that they are NOT under any condition to talk to the media. Same goes for the domestic workers. Plus I can guarentee that unless your the head honch or PR guy of your work, the same is probably true for you. If you don't believe me, call the I-team on your work and see if you have a job the next day. Don said that it wasn't his decision to fire them or not, which is absolutely true. They have their own supervisor to make that decision. Would you rather have had him go on TV and just say yes or no when it may or may not be true?

Here are some actual facts about the internationals, not this I-Team low-ratings-booster garbage that they attempt to pass off as journalism. I realize that some of this may be repeating somethings people have said.

1) The internationals pay $300/month, which is $75 a week. They don't pay $1200/month.

2) The students are made fully aware that their apartments are NOT furnished before they leave their home countries. It is stated in the job offer that they get that they are offered these certain amenities: utilities, beds or mattresses, kitchen appliances and laundry facilities.

3) The apartments they live in do have computer/internet access.

4) There was a change in housing and the stundents were made aware of it BEFORE leaving their countries, this includes those who appeared in the story.

5) Almost all housing units are in the condition stated above, with the exception of one... which is still in the process of being remodeled, and is was ironically chosen by the I-Team as a representation of all of the housing.

6) Our friends at WCPO were made aware of all of these facts and chose to ignore them in order to bring you a story that's absolutely entertaining but simply not true. Next time I see anything on WCPO news, I'm going to question it's integrity after this one.

[WooferBearATL]

You're going to question it more?

This is not the first I Team report and certainly not the first one that completely twisted towards sensationalism.

WCPO has been doing I Reports for at least 20 years.

This form of "journalism" is certainly nothing new.

[BoddaH1994]

You're going to question it more?

This is not the first I Team report and certainly not the first one that completely twisted towards sensationalism.

WCPO has been doing I Reports for at least 20 years.

This form of "journalism" is certainly nothing new.

I think it goes beyond sensationalism into the realm of irresponsibility. They take one person's incident and make it look like it's a typical experience. Why make consumers, especially in times like this, afraid to purchase when 99.999999% of companies make 99.999999% of their clients happy? They find that ONE guy and glorify his story.

[The Interpreter]

Why? Because good news doesn't sell. People say they want to hear it...but put it on and watch the ratings drop. Does that make what they do right? No. But consultant after consultant will tell you, correctly, that good news simply does not sell....

By the way, by all accounts, no one was injured on Son of Beast yesterday, no one died of food poisoning from eating at La Rosa's, a small child patted a happy dog....

[WooferBearATL]

You're going to question it more?

This is not the first I Team report and certainly not the first one that completely twisted towards sensationalism.

WCPO has been doing I Reports for at least 20 years.

This form of "journalism" is certainly nothing new.

I think it goes beyond sensationalism into the realm of irresponsibility. They take one person's incident and make it look like it's a typical experience. Why make consumers, especially in times like this, afraid to purchase when 99.999999% of companies make 99.999999% of their clients happy? They find that ONE guy and glorify his story.

And I reiterate, this is nothing new.

This is what the I Team has done for 20+ years.

[The Interpreter]

And they keep doing it because viewers show up and they can sell advertising.

Perhaps if a victim or two filed rather large lawsuits for libel or even for 'false light,' and won...they'd quit.

But as long as it makes money for them, they probably will not stop.

[WooferBearATL]

And they keep doing it because viewers show up and they can sell advertising.

Perhaps if a victim or two filed rather large lawsuits for libel or even for 'false light,' and won...they'd quit.

But as long as it makes money for them, they probably will not stop.

It would not go anywhere as nothing that was shown was false or even in a false light.

It's kind of like advertising high wire walks as record breaking. <G>