December 15, 2006
A quick stop through Brazil on the return from Bolivia has proven quite fruitful. Cathleen met with labor lawyers, union leaders, and migrant experts to discuss about portable justice issues and establish alliances for future work. Approximately 300,000 unauthorized workers from Bolivia labor in the garment industry concentrated in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Although Bolivians are freely allowed to enter Brazil, a foreigner is not allowed to work without employment authorization. Without the “cartera de trabalho” or work book issued by the Ministry of Labor one can not be a recognized or formal worker. Due to the difficulty in obtaining the permit, most Bolivians work informally, i.e. in an unauthorized manner. Interestingly, informal work in Brazil is not defined by the industry but by the employer’s documentation of the employment relationship in the employees’ work book. The employer literally records the contract terms and the length of employment directly in the book. Recently, the Brazilian parliament has addressed the exploitation of these workers. They are currently exploring ways to make the work authorization process more accessible in an effort to bring these workers into the formal economy. Although informal workers still have rights under the Brazilian labor system, many do not exercise them out of fear of deportation.
December 11, 2006
While in Bolivia, Cathleen discussed with Bolivian lawyers the local laws in regard to recruiting Bolivians to work abroad. In 2006, 147 Bolivians participated in the USA guestworker program. Some of these Bolivians were brought to work in Decateur Hotels in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Theses workers, along with workers from Peru and the Dominican Republic were grossly underpaid. The Sothern Poverty Law Center is currently suing Decateur hotels on behalf of these guestworkers. Global Workers made alliances with labor lawyers in Bolivian to support that law suit and to lay the ground work for future collaboration. Portable justice means that workers have the right to exercise their rights even after leaving their country of employment. Global Workers will continue to push for this basic human right for migrants.
December 9, 2006
Global Workers came to Cochabamba, Bolivia as a guest speaker in the People’s Summit for South American Integration Legal Workshop, coordinated to coincide with the Second Summit of South American Presidents, December 8-9, 2006. Representing Global Workers, Cathleen Caron, joined labor lawyers from Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil, and Cuba to discuss various themes including fairer free trade, labor protection and trade agreement linkages, human rights and integration, and social security systems. Cathleen made a presentation on the rights of transnational migrant workers which was well received. In the context of Bolivian migration, portable justice was particularly relevant. Bolivia is the major sending country in South America, with over three million Bolivians living outside of the country. Most migrants go to Spain, where until March of this coming year, Bolivians can travel to without a visa. Other major receiving countries for Bolivian migrants are Argentina, Brazil, and the United States.
In addition to the Legal Workshop, Cathleen had the opportunity to attend the other parts of the People’s Summit. Over three thousand delegates mostly from South America came together to discuss South American integration consistent with human rights principles and dignity for all peoples. The indigenous delegations were particularly well represented and vocal.
October 10, 2006
The USA’s H2 temporary guestworker program is flawed for many reasons that have been touched on these pages. One of those reasons is that the visas tie workers to one employer. If they encounter any work-place problems, such as underpayment of wages, and if they complain, they will likely be sent home. After borrowing enormous quantities (many must use their land as collateral), no worker wants to be returned home with empty pockets. They literally have everything to lose. Looking closer at one case shows the enormous quandary temporary workers face when the employment changes from the promised high paying jobs to, in the worst case scenario, human trafficking.
A group of Guatemalan workers are facing this situation right now. Forced into low-paying highly exploitative jobs, a far cry from what they had been promised in Guatemala, all the workers left their legal employment. But only one returned to Guatemala. The rest decided to stay in the USA working until their temporary visas expired. The catch is that they can only legally work for the employer listed on that visa. However, that legal obligation had already been violated by the employer who sent them, against their will, to work for someone else in another state. With the aid of Global Workers, the workers now have competent legal counsel pushing a trafficking case against the employer. If human trafficking victims agree to cooperate with law enforcement, they may obtain a T-visa allowing them to stay in the USA and eventually obtain a green card. Here is the quandary. The US government decides to whom to issue a T-visa. The process to evaluate the case and to decide whether to press criminal human trafficking charges takes time. Time that these workers do not have.
When their work visas expire, they must return to Guatemala and report to the US embassy. If they fail to do so, it is doubtful that the worker can ever participate again in the H2 program. If they leave the country to comply with the H2 obligations, then they will lose the opportunity to get a T-visa. T-visas are only issued to persons physically in the US. So what do the workers do? Forgo the opportunity to participate in the guestworker program by staying in the USA illegally as they hope they eventually are granted T-visas? Or return home now and hope they get recontracted by a legitimate employer next year? If they are not recontracted, and can not find a decent job opportunity in Guatemala, then they will likely make the decision, like thousands before them, to re-renter the USA illegally and try their luck in the underground economy.
Of course, if the workers would have worked where they were promised and earned what they were promised, or there was governmental oversight to ensure that the employer was complying with the H2 obligations, none of this would be happening. Their law breaking employer put them in a no win situation. This is the reality of our guestworker program today; an unwieldy system that does not serve anyone well.
September 18, 2006
Global Workers observed the United Nations General Assembly High-Level Dialogue (HLD) on Migration and Development, September 14-15. The two days was compromised of two basic components. An ongoing plenary occurred in the General Assembly where member states made speeches on the topic of migration and development. Over the afternoon of the 14th and the morning of the 15th, four roundtables occurred exploring various sub-topics. The roundtables were closed meetings but a side room with live video streams allowed others to observe the process. Approximately 200 people observed the roundtables and many less observed the plenary.
The need for “managed migration” was one of the common themes of the member states’ discourses. All countries agreed that migration is significant to their economic development, either due to the demand for migrant labor, or the dependence on the remittances from their migrants abroad. Many countries spoke out against irregular migration and how it threatened their security. A sense of uncontrollable migration was stressed by many countries. Although the majority focused on clamping down borders to stop it, a few countries offered a more comprehensive and thoughtful analysis. Argentina was notable in this regard. It stressed that restrictive migration laws was the cause of irregular migration. To remedy the situation of the one million unauthorized migrants in Argentina, the government recently initiated a regularization effort. Legalization and setting realistic immigration policies to meet labor demands was a groundbreaking but little discussed approach to addressing irregular migration.
Another interesting issue was the marginalization of the 1990 Migrant Worker Convention (MWC). Taking 14 years to enter into force, the Migrant Worker Convention has been the slowest ratified convention in UN history. The reasons why were apparent at the HLD. Although the developing nations are calling for immediate ratification, the developed countries have taken a strong stance against it. Canada forcefully articulated this point stating that it was “very unlikely” to ratify the convention. As an alternative, the representative supported the Secretary General’s suggestion to establish a Global Consultative Forum. But Canada preferred that this be a state-led initiative outside the UN system. No more international conventions are needed, stated the representative. The trend to move the global migration discussion away from the UN system was echoed by other developed nations.
The United States stood out as the one country that did not support a continuing international dialogue on migration. Taking a strong isolationist stance, the United State representative stated that the regional consultations were sufficient and that the United States would not participate in the proposed Global Consultative Forum. The United States predicted that the forum would not produce concrete results but rather be mired in overly generalized discussions. As Peter Sutherland, the Secretary General’s Special Representative on Migration noted, the United States position was unique and contrary to the rest of the world which agreed that they would benefit from a structured international dialogue.
Overall, the High-Level Dialogue was an important first step and a positive expression that the world recognizes that the current state of migration is unacceptable for all parties involved. Many common issues were identified and most countries agreed that it was important to continue addressing this issue globally since migration is indeed a global phenomena. Absent entirely from the discussion was the issue of portable justice. The interventions, however, were short, only 3 minutes in the round tables, so the lack of discussion may not be indicative of the countries’ positions on the issue. Global Workers will continue to follow the UN dialogue around migration—hopefully attending the Global Consultative Forum in Brussels in 2007—and continue to educate member states on the important of transnational access to justice for global workers.
September 13, 2006
The United Nations General Assembly will meet September 14-15 for the High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development. Concurrently, the Global Community Dialogue on Migration, Development, & Human Rights is occurring all week organized by NGOs. Civil society participation in the High-Level Dialogue is limited to eight representatives from around the world and observation status is restricted to NGOs with ECOSOC status (UN Economic and Social Council). As a consequence, most NGOs will be excluded. As an alternative, and to ensure that UN representatives know that civil society is following the events closely, the side event was organized by Migrant Rights International, National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights and Migrant Forum Asia.
So far the Community Dialogue has been excellent. Representatives from migrant organizations and migrant rights NGOs from around the world came to New York to participate. Every continent was represented. Global Workers presented at a panel entitled, “The Global Economy and Strategies for Advancing the Rights of Undocumented Migrant Workers.” Global Workers underscored the challenges migrants face when vindicating their rights after they have returned to their country of origin—regardless of immigration status in the country of employment. The Community Dialogue covers a wide range of topics, including impact of global economic systems, forced migration, trafficking, domestic workers and much more. In addition to the substance of the panels, the informal exchanges and strategy building for how to insert the migrant voice into the UN dialogue was quite fruitful. There is no doubt that the NGOs are increasingly organized around migrant issues globally. This is an important development. Without the voce of the migrants and their advocates, the governmental policies will continue to be solely from the economic perspective and not from a rights-based approach.
September 3, 2006
Cathleen Caron, Global Workers Executive Director, traveled to Mexico City on August 26 to strengthen ties with migrant organizations in Mexico City and to attend the first anniversary of the Centro de los Derechos del Migrante in Zacatecas, Mexico September 2-3.
In Mexico City, Cathleen discussed the planned work of Global Workers in southern Mexico, our initial geographic focus, and asked the organizations to identify groups that would be interested in joining Global Workers as certified sending-country advocates. Although no organization in southern Mexico specifically works on migrant labor rights, many groups defend human rights therefore encompassing migrant labor rights may well be a natural extension of their work. With the assurance of referrals from well-known and trusted human rights organizations in Mexico City, we look forward to traveling to southern Mexico and connecting with the potential future partner organizations.
The Centro de los Derechos del Migrante invited Global Workers to train attendees at its first anniversary on the basics of the United Status legal system. The Centro opened its doors last year to provide legal services to Mexican migrants plus advocate for their rights. It was an honor to be invited to take part in the anniversary celebration of this important new effort. About one hundred people attended including Mexican migrants, government officials, unions, and foreign and local NGOs. Cathleen described to the group the basic processes of the United States legal system and how migrant workers can use the system when their rights are violated. Other presentations discussed organizing, immigration reform, guestworker rights, labor standards, and employment discrimination. Global Workers will continue to collaborate with the Centro as both programs develop in Mexico.
August 15, 2006
Global Workers continues to make groundbreaking progress with cases for injured workers described in previous entries. As you may recall, one worker was injured while laboring under a guestworker contract as a landscaper in Maryland. After Global Workers conducted the initial intake in Guatemala, we set out to secure medical care for him because he continued to suffer from his injury making it almost impossible for him to support his family. The employer, who relies on guestworkers for its national landscaping company, refuses to provide medical care for injured workers after they have left the United States. The workers leave the United States because they are legally obligated to do so when their guestworker contract expires. After several weeks of searching, Global Workers located an orthopedic doctor in Guatemala who was sympathetic to the case. The doctor agreed to see the worker without upfront payment. We will then invoice the insurance company, where the worker has an outstanding and uncontested claim, for reimbursement. When the insurance company denies the claim, as anticipated, we will then push the issue through the workers compensation system with the goal of establishing the precedent that employees are entitled to workers compensation benefits regardless of borders. As Congress now debates expanding the guestworker program, it is critical to let it be known loud and clear, that these are not second class, disposable workers. If we invite them to work in our country and then require them to leave, we can not then deny them their basic employment rights.
July 15, 2006
On July 12, Global Workers attended the Informal NGO Interactive Hearings at the United Nations headquarters in New York. The purpose of the meeting was for member nations to consult with NGOs and civil society in preparation for the General Assembly’s High-Level Dialogue on Migration and Development in September.
Certainly, it is a positive development that the United Nations is placing greater emphasis on migration. What concerns Global Workers is the tenor of discussion, evident at the July 12 hearings. It appeared that the member states and the United Nation officials involved with migration are operating under a few assumptions that we would argue are not so acceptable.
First, migration is touted as positive for development. What is left out of the analysis is why migrants must leave their country to seek employment elsewhere. The majority of migrants today migrate out of necessity, not choice. Most migrants would not leave their home countries if they had the opportunity to earn a living wage. Lack of decent job opportunities at home is a sign of under-development exacerbated by gender and racial discrimination, corruption, and lack of equal opportunity, among other factors. Not many mothers choose to leave their children behind so they can be sure to have sufficient income to enroll them in school. But that is what many must do when faced with few options. It is unacceptable to let migration overshadow the development roadblocks, the push behind the migrant phenomena today. In actuality, migration is not a tool but a substitute for development.
Second, temporary worker programs are being heralded as the answer to labor shortages in countries of employment. The reality is that temporary worker programs, as they operate in various parts of the world, are in fact filling a permanent, not a temporary need. Using temporary workers to meet a permanent labor demand is a poor solution. What is sidestepped time and again is why countries of employment will not allow for workers to stay in their countries permanently to fill the ongoing labor need. Furthermore, there is little discussion about the effects of temporary migration on the workers themselves, labor standards in the countries of employment, and society as a whole in both the receiving and sending nations. It is irresponsible to assume that temporary migration is positive without fully exploring the ramifications. (The exploitative nature of temporary workers programs today will be explored in a future blog entry.)
The process leading up to the September High-Level is an important opportunity. The Secretary General is hoping to move the forward the migration debate. The July 12 hearings showed that a heavy burden is on the NGOs, civil society and migrants themselves to influence that debate so the end results are indeed positive for development.
July 7, 2006
In the United Nations processes described in the last entry (and the United States immigration debate I might add), there is virtually no discussion of portable justice—the right and ability of transnational workers to access justice for workplace wrongs in the country of employment once they have left that country.
Most migratory norms focus on the rights in the country where the migrants are physically present. But the migrants’ ability to vindicate rights violated in one state when they return home or move to a third state is an issue that has received little attention.
The UN Secretary General recognizes in his May 18 report on Migration and Development that “Labour rights are the mainstay in the prevention of exploitation and ought to be fiercely safeguarded.” But without addressing the significant absence of justice for transnational migrants the picture is incomplete and enforcement of migrant labor rights is illusory. It is unrealistic to shape a national regulatory scheme which mandates that global migrants must continue to be physically present within that nation’s borders—even after completion of job contracts—in order to benefit from its protections. For today’s global migrants this is truly inappropriate and unacceptable.
Businesses are global. Workers are global. Justice is not. This must change. Migrant workers must be guaranteed that they can enforce their labor rights from where ever they migrate in the world and that they will not be denied substantive protections because they leave the country of employment.
It is critical that the United Nations addresses and embraces this issue. If not migrant workers will continue to labor in the shadows of globalization.