June 16, 2006

June 16, 2006


Global Workers continues to search for support for the injured guestworker who has returned to Guatemala. Both legal and practical obstacles exist which may prevent the worker from receiving the care he needs. Practically, we have been told, it is challenging to locate a doctor in a foreign country who is willing to follow the American Medical Association’s guidelines for a workers compensation evaluation. To address this concern, we contacted the US embassy in Guatemala to inquire about its list of approved doctors. The embassy was very responsive. It is hoped that a doctor who regularly attends embassy personnel would be familiar and willing to follow the guidelines.

The legal challenges are much more problematic. Apparently, in Maryland (where the worker was injured), a worker must be physically present if there is a workers compensation hearing. Hearings usually occur when the workers compensation carrier denies a request and the claimant (i.e. the worker) challenges it. Currently, no procedures exist to allow for video or telephonic participation. Mandatory physical presence is impractical and perhaps impossible for a worker who has returned to his/her country of origin. First, there is no guarantee that the worker will be able to obtain a visa to return to the United States to testify. Second, the cost of traveling to the United States may well exceed any potential benefits gained by a successful hearing. Consequently, if a worker leaves the United States after a compensable work injury, and a disagreement arises necessitating a hearing, the worker will not likely prevail potentially threatening continued medical care or benefits.

In this specific case, the worker had no information about how he to utilize the workers compensation system after he returned to Guatemala. Because of this all medical care ceased and his conditioned has worsened.

This case illustrates how the current guestworker program unfairly treats the workers who are injured will working legally in the United States. To correct this, workers must be informed that they may continue to receive medical care and benefits even after they have returned home. Additionally, the legal system must accommodate the guestworkers who are required to leave the United States once their contract is finished. Workers compensation hearings must allow for video or telephonic presence of the claimant worker. If these changes do not occur, injured guestworkers will continue to be shipped home where the likelihood of continued care is slight at best—a shameful practice indeed.

June 2, 2006

June 2, 2006


Global Workers is pleased to report that it was able to obtain legal support for the Guatemalan guestworkers who were deceived into working in extremely exploitative conditions in Connecticut in violation of their H-2B contract. A legal team was assembled within days of Cathleen’s return from Guatemala. The exploitation is severe enough to warrant an investigation into possible human trafficking. Unfortunately, guestworkers vulnerability to abuse is increased by their lack of information about their rights and support services in the United States. Without Global Workers being notified of this case while in Guatemala, it is very unlikely that the workers would have found any relief.

Preliminary difficulties have surfaced in obtaining support for the Guatemalan worker who was injured while working in the US as an H-2B landscaper. After some initial inquiries, there is concern that it will be too complicated both practically and legally to pursue the case because the worker is no longer present in the United States. This is precisely why Global Workers exists: to facilitate transnational representation to reduce migrant worker exploitation. It is unacceptable that workers are cut off from justice because they obey the rules and return home when their visa requires them to do so. The system should reward, not punish these workers. Global Workers thanks Friends of Farmworkers for taking the lead to secure support for the worker.

Both of these cases demonstrate some of the flaws in the guestworker program as it operates today. 1. Foreign guestworkers without knowledge of their rights in the United States are more vulnerable to exploitation. 2. Without accessible legal support in the countries of origin, the workers who return from the United States have virtually no ability to challenge any ill treatment that may have occurred. 3. The legal system is not responsive to the mobile workforce and therefore workers who are no longer physically present in the United States are frequently denied access to justice.

Guestworkers are not a disposable workforce. These workers come to the United States because we invite them. If the workers live up to their responsibilities and return to their countries at the end of the contract, it is this country’s corresponding obligation to guarantee them access to protections and services for wrongs suffered in the United States.

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