Sea Org

SAN JACINTO, Calif. – At the edge of arid foothills far outside Los Angeles, hundreds of Scientology followers live on a gated, 500-acre campus and work long hours for almost no pay reproducing the works of founder L. Ron Hubbard and creating the church's teaching and promotional materials.

The church says its 5,000 so-called Sea Organization members are religious devotees akin to monks who are exempt from wage requirements and overtime. But two lawsuits filed by two former Sea Org members, as they are known, allege the workers are little more than slave laborers, forced to work 100-hour weeks for pennies and threatened with manual labor if they cause trouble.
...
...
The members are Scientology's most devoted followers: they sign a billion-year pledge, vow not to have children and live and work communally.
...
...
"These folks are working for a year or two or three in a row on an hour or two of sleep a night. They're zombies," Van Sickle said. "If people had some money in their pockets or a good night's sleep, they probably wouldn't stick around."
...
...
Inside, some 400 Sea Org members live in hotel-like dorms modeled on Scottish highland architecture and eat in a log cabin-style cafeteria that features super-sized bottles of multivitamins on each table. The grounds include a golf course, a large lake and a network of paths.
...
(more...)