HERSHEY, Pa. -- The famous chocolate maker based here makes a lot of tasty sweets that are sold worldwide, but Natalia Niewiadomska, a 22-year-old college student from Poland, wasn't feeling sweet toward the company Friday.

She and dozens of other college students from around the world, who had worked at a sprawling Hershey packing and distribution center in neighboring Palmyra for the last two months, stopped working Wednesday, refusing to lift heavy cartons of candy or pack the treats as they moved by on a swiftly-moving conveyer belt.

The students complained they are doing much heavier work than they'd been told about, and for only $6 to $8 an hour. Having paid from $3,000 to $6,000 in airfare and fees to come to the U.S., plus each paying almost $400 a month for a four-person apartment, the students said they only make $100 to $140 a month and will likely lose money on the experience.

PG VIDEO: Foreign students protest Hershey work conditions

Their work stoppage has generated enormous publicity, their complaints aided by the National Guestworker Alliance, a New Orleans groups with ties to some labor unions. The protest has created a major public relations headache for Hershey, the second-largest candy maker in the world.

The students came to the U.S. in June under a federal visa program called J-1, overseen by the U.S. State Department, which has begun looking into their complaints. J-1 is a summer work and "cultural exchange" program that puts 120,000 students from foreign universities in jobs around the U.S. yearly.

Ms. Niewiadomska said she thought the program would allow for travel in the U.S., but she hasn't gotten a chance to go anywhere since arriving in June because all she's done is work.

"We packed boxes [of candy] and stacked cases on pallets," she said Friday, after a rally at the Chocolate Workers Union office here, where about 100 of the foreign students chanted "We are students, J-1 students, mighty mighty students, we are the workers, fighting for human rights."

She said the conveyer belt with candy products moves quickly and packers rarely have a chance for a break "or the candies end up on the floor."

Another worker, Karolina Zwolinska, also a Polish college student, said the J-1 contract the students signed was printed "in really small little print," and while it did mention lifting boxes of up to 40 pounds, "It didn't say how many times a day you had to do it," which turned out to be many times.

"I haven't gotten any cultural exchange," added Asset Zhunussov, a student from Kazakhstan, saying he had hoped to travel to see American attractions but has spent all his time in the warehouse.

The J-1 program involves Hershey and three other companies: Exel, an Ohio firm that runs the distribution warehouse for Hershey but didn't hire the students; staffing vendor SHS OnSite Solutions, which spokesman Sean Connolly said handled payrolls and work scheduling; and the Council for Educational Travel USA, which handled visas and non-work matters.

About a dozen students interviewed Friday said they had applied through CETUSA.

"It has come to our attention that the current program is no longer meeting the expectations of some of the student workers," said Exel spokeswoman Lynn Anderson. As a result, Exel has told SHS "to discontinue sourcing J-1 student workers when the current workers' assignments end in mid-September."

She said that many of the 400 foreign students working at the Hershey warehouse were "OK with the conditions and are showing up for work," despite the complaints of other students.

CETUSA official Rick Anaya said in a statement the students were told about the type of work they would do and the pay before they agreed to the work.

Hershey spokesman Kirk Saville couldn't be reached, but Stephen Boykewich, an NGA spokesman, said he was certain Hershey understood the working conditions in its own warehouse.

He accused all four companies of "frantically passing the buck" by saying one of the other three firms deserved the blame. He said that "100 percent of the products packaged at the plant were Hershey," so it should share the blame. He also said Hershey should rehire laid-off American workers instead of using foreign students at the warehouse.

Malwina Siegien, another student from Poland, said. "I think Hershey is responsible [for the program]. We don't think any more students should come here for work."

The foreign students have been concerned about the working conditions for about a month, but recently were contacted by the NGA. It formed after the 2005 Hurricane Katrina, which led to many New Orleans workers losing their jobs, and has contact with large unions, but Mr. Boykewich insisted it is independent.

He also criticized Hershey for a "decades-long process of hollowing out its work force, through downsizing, outsourcing and subcontracting," turning warehouse jobs from "$18 to $24 a hour, family-sustaining jobs" into $8 an hour jobs filled by foreign students.

Rallies sponsored by NGA were held in several other cities Friday, including Pittsburgh.

Four students in Market Square denounced the program, which they said has left them with little money to travel or learn about the U.S.

The program deducts students' housing costs, plus bus and drug testing fees, from their paychecks, which they said will leave them with only $100 a week, or $1,200 at the end of their three-month stay, far less than what they paid to participate.

"They promised me I would be here to work and travel. The reality is I work and sleep every day," said Li Chanjuan, 22, a Chinese student. When students complained about the large amount of manual labor, they were threatened with the loss of their visas, he said.

"I wanted to improve my English, but I have only improved my muscle," said Feti Karademir, a student from Turkey.