May 20, 2006
Back in Guatemala City, Cathleen signed up additional workers. In addition to the wage claim, one worker continues to suffer from an injury he sustained while working for Brickman in the USA in 2005. Although he is attempting to work now in Guatemala he clearly continues to suffer from the injury and should probably not be working at all. We are now seeking legal help for him so he can get the medical attention he deserves.
Just before leaving Guatemala, another labor case was brought to Cathleen’s attention. This case clearly demonstrates the abuses that easily occur in the very loosely regulated H2 guestworker program. The workers were brought to the US to work in North Carolina to plant pine trees. When the group of workers arrived they were taken directly to Connecticut and told they would be working at a nursery. Their passports were confiscated and they were paid grossly under the minimum wage. Global Workers will seek legal support for these workers. A Guatemalan human rights attorney in Guatemala City will serve as the liaison to the workers in this case.
Overall the trip to Guatemala was very productive and Cathleen looks forward to returning to Guatemala soon!
May 18, 2006
Chiquimula is a dry, hot state right on the Honduran border. Most of the 150 Guatemalan Brickman workers were recruited from here. Cathleen was able to sign up several clients in Chiquimula for the Fair Labor Standards Act Representative Action brought by the Friends of Farmworkers against the Brickman Group. The lawsuit focuses on who has the obligation to pay the transportation and related costs to bring a worker to the USA—the employer or the employee. The costs for the Guatemalan workers are over $1,000 which means that the first week of week they effectively earn nothing because they are already in debt. If the court rules that these costs are the responsibility of the employer, then the workers will be ensured that the expenses can not result in them receiving less than the minimum wage for the first work week.
Global Workers wishes to thank the Human Rights Omnibudsman’s Office (PDH in Spanish initials) for the incredible support. Cathleen worked out of its offices during the week and the PDH team helped her contact the workers. Without a doubt the success of the trip was due to the PDH’s support. The PDH will continue to serve as the liaison to the workers through out the course of the case.
May 12, 2006
The secondary focus in Guatemala City has been to strategize with Guatemalan advocates and government officials to ensure that foreign companies recruiting workers in Guatemala to work abroad comply with the Guatemalan labor code. According to Article 34 of the Guatemalan Labor Code, foreign companies must pay all of the related transportation costs of the Guatemalan workers they recruit to work abroad. This law is violated wholesale and unfortunately the US government is complicit.
According to the US consulate in Guatemala, 4,500 Guatemalans came to work in the USA though the “guestworker” or H2 program. The program is riddled with problems only one of which is the failure of US companies to pay the costs required as stipulated in Guatemalan law.[other problems include chronic underpayment of wages and severe lack of Department of Labor oversight].
Cathleen met with various persons to discuss this serious, and frankly embarrassing, problem of the USA program. The meetings included the Ministry for Labor’s Department of Labor Migration, the Human Rights Omnibudsman Office of Worker Protection, the AFL-CIO’s Solidarity Center, and several private sector labor attorneys. Most of the entities were unaware that the US companies were even recruiting in Guatemala, let alone the flagrant Article 34 violations. As a result of these consultations, Global Workers in collaboration with Alejandro Argueta, a private labor law attorney, is considering holding a conference in Guatemala on this issue. The planning is now underway.
The meetings with officials at the US Embassy were interesting. Although they expressed frustration with the program due to fraud and worker exploitation, they clearly felt they had limited recourses to halt it. The consulate has individual interviews with the workers before issuing the H2 visa. This is a unique moment to ensure that the workers understand their contracts and are provided with information so that they can seek assistance if their employer violates the contract or other rights. There seemed to be some degree of willingness to take steps to reduce the well recognized worker exploitation. Global Workers will provide the consulate with the appropriate materials—on workers’ rights and where to seek assistance both in the USA and in Guatemala—-and encourage the consulate to utilize them to improve the program.
The US government should not foster exploitation of foreign workers. It is simply unacceptable that the guestworker program continues as is.
Next Stop: Chiquimula, Guatemala to locate the Brickman workers.
May 11, 2006
Guatemala is such a beautiful yet tragic country. The level of organized violent crime and accompanying impunity is simply spiraling out of control. The army can be now seen patrolling the city streets, a sight not seen since the civil war. More people are killed daily now then during the country’s 36 years of armed conflict. In this atmosphere of insecurity and poverty it is easy to understand why so many Guatemalans migrate north.
Cathleen came to Guatemala principally to work on a migrant labor case. Friends of Farmworkers, a non-profit in Pennsylvania, is suing the Brickman Group, Ltd. over underpayment of wages for landscapers they use through the USA’s H-2B “guestworker” program. Over the past few years they have used 2,000 Mexican and 150 Guatemalan workers. The case is centered on who has the responsibility to pay for the workers’ transportation costs (including recruitment fees, visa fees, etc): the employer or the employee. Currently, the employees pay all the costs, which average approximately $500 for Mexicans and more for the Guatemalans. Since the workers now pay all of these costs, they effectively earn nothing their first week of work, which is a violation of minimum and overtime wages.
Friends of Farmworkers asked Global Workers to help locate 150 Guatemalan workers so that the workers have the opportunity to participate in the lawsuit to recover their wages. It appears that most of the workers have returned for another season landscaping in the USA. Cathleen will go to Chiquimula next week, where most of the workers come from to locate the ones who have not returned to the US.
Global Workers belief is to always worker with local advocates. Not only is this ultimately more efficient but more importantly, it builds the capacity of local advocates to orient and support their fellow nationals who are transnational migrants. To that end, Cathleen spent most of the first week in Guatemala City trying to find which organizations would be interested in offering support for this specific case in Chiquimula. She met with several organizations that have presence in Chiquimula.
Cathleen met with the Catholic Church’s pastoral office that works with migrants. They offered to provide support through the national catholic radio stations. She also met with the Center of Human Rights Legal Action, which offered the use of its offices near Chiqumula to contact workers in the area. The Human Rights Omnibudsman’s Office (PDH in the Spanish initials) offered the most direct support. The PDH will use its networks to assist in contacting the workers.
May 6, 2006
While in El Salvador, Global Workers met with various entities to learn about the transnational access to justice challenges in El Salvador and to lay the groundwork for alliance work in that country.
Cathleen Caron, Executive Director, met with Margarita Escobar, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs for El Salvadorians in the Exterior (a ministry created two years ago to support El Salvadorians abroad). According to the Ministry, approximately 2.8 million of the almost 7 million El Salvadorians live abroad. The Vice-Minister expressed interest to learn more about Global Workers and explore possible collaboration. To that end, Cathleen met with several officials in her office. They discussed special concern with the approximately 8,000 annual deportations from the USA to El Salvador. Many of the deportees never received their final pay checks, among other problems. Conversations will continue about coordinating work between Global Workers and the Ministry. Consular trainings on labor rights was one of the issues discussed.
Cathleen also met with Catholic Relief Services in El Salvador. CRS is well aware of the transnational justice issues and was willing to collaborate with the alliance network. This would be a key partnership since CRS has presence in most of the regions in El Salvador.
Another meeting was held with several members the University of Central America, the Jesuit university in El Salvador. The university officials were eager to learn more about migrant labor problems in the United States, especially since they already receive complaints from migrants through the IDHUCA, the Human Rights Institute at the University. Discussions are now under way about training programs for the university. Members of IDHUCA invited Cathleen to speak about migrant labor rights on its human rights program on the University’s radio station.
Finally, Cathleen met with officials at the Ministry of Labor. It was unfortunate to learn that the US companies recruiting workers through the H-2B visa program (guestworker program) in El Salvador are failing to comply with the Law of Organization and Functions of the Labor and Social Provisions, Article 74 which establishes the conditions under which workers may be contracted to work outside of El Salvador. In 2004, just under 200 workers were recruited by US companies to work in the USA, according to USCIS data (unfortunately more recent statistics are not available).
Next stop: Guatemala
May 5, 2006
Welcome to the first entry of the Global Workers Justice Alliance blog! Here we will share more detailed information about our work.
The Regional Network of Civil Organizations for Migration (www.rrocm.org) invited Global Workers to speak about immigrant labor rights in the United States at their IX Regional Meeting on Migration in El Salvador May 2-5, 2006. The regional network is comprised of not-for-profits (aka Non Governmental Organizations, in international parlance) from 11 countries in North America, Central America and the Caribbean. Its meeting coincided with the governmental process known as the Regional Conference on Migration (www.rcmvs.org) or the “Puebla Process,” an inter-governmental process on migration issues which initiated in 1996. RROCM holds its own meeting at the RCM conference in an effort to participate (albeit the space was very limited for NGOs) and influence the governmental process.
Labor rights were not an evident issue either in the NGO or the governmental discourse. The role of Global Workers was to educate the RROCM members on immigrant labor rights and transnational justice issues. The NGOs were very receptive and were open to learning more and incorporating labor rights into their work. Global Workers would like to thank RROCM for the invitation to interchange experiences and looks forward to working closely with RROCM.