HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP) — About 150 guest workers from Nepal left jobs at a Cinram Inc. plant in search of better-paying employment and didn't steal furniture when they departed, as previously claimed, according to an Alabama resident who befriended the immigrants.
The Huntsville Times reported Monday that a letter from the agency that hired more than 200 Nepalese workers said they were free to leave at any time. There also was no sign of missing furniture or cookware at the apartments where they had been staying, as their landlord had alleged, the newspaper said.
''Why they are missing is their primary motivation is to work and earn money,'' said Tilak Shrestha, a Nepalese scientist in Huntsville who has befriended several of the workers. ''There is not enough work and they went other places to find better work than the Cinram.''
The Times said a form letter from their employer, Ambassador Personnel, was sent Nov. 29 saying their employment was ''at-will'' and adding: ''Employees are free to relinquish their positions at any time, with or without cause.''
Some of the workers, paid $8 an hour to label and pack DVDs at Cinram's Huntsville plant, have said they were not getting as many hours as hoped after the holidays.
The Times said a walk through the furnished apartments the Nepalese rented revealed plastic patio furniture, used sleeper couches, beds, small $150 TV sets and old cookware, as had been evident on a visit in November.
''None of these guys are going to run around with a plastic table and dirty pans,'' said Shrestha.
Mary Snopl, the landlord for the Nepalese workers, had told a television news station last week that about 150 of the guest workers had left the apartments and taken furniture, TVs and kitchenware with them.
Told by the Times that the furnishings did not appear to be missing, she said, ''If that's the case, that's great.''
Officials with Ambassador Personnel and Cinram said last week the workers returned to Nepal early out of homesickness. Federal immigration officials said the missing worker case is being checked out.
