January 31, 2007
Not willing to accept that the US embassy could not take more affirmative steps to reduce the problems in the H2 program, Global Workers obtained a follow-up meeting with more senior officials. This time the meeting had more positive results. Global Workers met with the current US ambassador, Consul General, and the Labor Attaché. The Consul General was very knowledgeable of the problems and was open to creatively addressing them. Specifically, we discussed providing know your rights information to the workers (hopefully the draft flier that Global Workers and Southern Poverty Law Center created) and orienting US employers about their obligations under Guatemalan law. We will continue to work closely with the embassy to make this happen.
The same day, Global Workers met with the Second Vice-Minister at the Guatemalan Labor Ministry. Compared with prior meetings at the Labor Ministry, this produced concrete results. Several reasons have contributed to the change of perspective. Fist, there was a change in leadership. Not only is the new Second Vice-Minister political willing to pursue the abuses in the recruitment process but the position is held by an indigenous woman-perhaps two firsts. Second, the migration issue is becoming a political issue in Guatemala. Just five years ago there was little attention to it. Now almost daily an article appears in the major papers (in fact, Global Workers was interviewed by Prensa Libre. The article will soon be posted on our website.).
Lastly, the recruitment abuses are worsening rendering the H2 workers even more vulnerable to exploitation. For example, one Guatemalan contractor forces the workers to sign contracts (pagaré, is the legal term in Spanish) stating they are indebted to the contractor for Q50,000 ($1=Q8). No such loan has occurred. In fact, the intention is to force the workers to return to Guatemala after the H2 employment ends. If they do not return (regardless of the circumstances), the contractor will collect the Q50,000 from the family members who also signed the contract, ensuring total economic ruin. It is a form of false debt peonage and is patently illegal. No one can deny a person the right or ability to terminate a labor contract. Slavery was abolished many years ago. Abuses like this are shockingly on the rise. Prompted in a large part by Guatemalan contractors who are trying to make an honest business of recruiting workers for the H2 program, the Ministry of Labor wants to crack down on practices like these. This must be supported and encouraged. At the Labor Ministry’s request, Global Workers will conduct a training of its senior officials and regional directors on the H2 guestworker program in the next few months.
January 29, 2007
Global Workers went to Chiquimula to follow-up with the H-2B workers involved in the litigation against the Brickman Group, a Maryland based national landscaping company (see previous blog entries for more details). Interrogatories (written questions) were served upon the Guatemala clients in December. The Global Workers local partner coordinated with Friends of Farmworkers based in Pennsylvania to successfully complete the interrogatories. A small but important example of efficient transnational litigation through cross border collaboration.
In addition to the interrogatory follow-up, Global Workers wanted to investigate reports that some of the workers were marginalized by the local recruiter and the community for pushing for their rights in under the USA minimum wage laws. Although the situation is relatively calm, the local recruiter continues to take advantage of his position. This time it was reported that he “encouraged” all the workers on the list to go to the USA with the H-2 visa to donate Q400 (US$1=Q8) to the paving of the local road. Although the project is likely fully funded by the state, the workers “voluntarily” provided the local recruiter this money. To put this extortion in financial context, a farmer in that small mountain town where most of the recruits originate earns between Q12,000-17,000 a year selling corn and beans in the local market. With very minimal oversight by the Guatemalan and US governments, abuses like this around the H2 program are common place.
January 27, 2007
Global Workers traveled to El Salvador to lay the groundwork to launch programs in this country. One of the most fascinating parts of the program development is understanding the differences between the countries and how this affects the structure of the project in that country. El Salvador is a small, densely populated country. Out of the almost 7 million residents, it is estimated that 2.5 million live in the United States. Unlike Guatemala which necessitates a decentralized project due to the nature of the organizations and the size of the country, El Salvador lends itself to a more centralized project.
Global Workers has the enormous privilege to be teaming up with the Human Rights Institute at the University of Central America (known by the Spanish acronym IDHUCA), the leading human rights program in El Salvador. Founded twenty years ago at the Jesuit university, IDHUCA has been on the forefront of all human rights issues. In response to the change of USA immigration law in 1996 which resulted in the first large deportations, IDHUCA founded a migrant department to address these new challenges. For the most part they work with rights issues for migrants transiting to the US or who are working in El Salvador. Increasingly, migrants who have returned from the USA (either deported—already more than 1,000 in January 2007 alone, a 40% increase from 2006, or who have returned of their own accord) turn to IDHUCA for legal assistance regarding rights in the USA. Global Workers appearance in El Salvador could not have been more timely.
Initial contact with a prominent Salvadoran business leader seemed promising to secure financial support for the initiative. The meeting, however, had mixed results. Due to the newness of the portable justice concept, it continues to be challenging to illustrate how it directly impacts the economy and people of the involved countries. Salvadoran migrants returning injured or under paid from working in the USA could push a family from poverty to extreme poverty. Ensuring portable justice—the right and the ability to transnationally access justice—will help prevent that. Hopefully, together IDHUCA and Global Workers can make that connection tangible and launch the project.
While in El Salvador, Global Workers met with US embassy staff. Just as in Guatemala, the US embassy does not orient US employers about their obligations under Salvadoran law or provide the H2 workers (approximately 500 annually) any information about labor protections. Building upon this initial contact, Global Workers hopes to work with the embassy to take affirmative steps to reduce H2 program exploitation of Salvadoran nationals.
January 25, 2007
While here in Guatemala, Global Workers met with US consular officials to discuss ongoing problems with the H2 guestworker program and how the embassy could take measures to curb the exploitation. The meeting had mixed results. While on the one hand consular officials quickly rattle off the myriad problems with the program, they fear taking even small measures that would in any way be interpreted as impeding US business interests. Granted, the embassy has limited ability to control the H2 program. The US consulates can not deny a certification to US employers who want to bring in guestworkers. That is the Department of Labor’s role. The consulate issues the individual visas to the workers the employer wants to bring to the USA. If the US consulate suspects that the employer is defrauding the government, it can only send the petition request back to DOL for reconsideration or deny the individual worker the H2 visa. Several times the US consulate in Guatemala considered an employer’s action (e.g. changing employers or type of job approved by DOL) or treatment of workers (e.g. trafficking, underpayment of wages) unacceptable but DOL did not agree. Without DOL’s cooperation, consulate can only deny the individual worker the visa. However, the consulate rightly recognizes that this action punishes the worker, not necessarily the employer.
Notwithstanding the failure of the DOL to provide even the most minimum oversight of this program, the US consulates can do much more to curb the abuse. In Guatemala, the workers receive no written material about their rights under the H2 program. Global Workers and the Southern Poverty Law Center drafted a know your rights brochure that include contact numbers in Guatemala and the USA for assistance. Although in May, the US consulate appeared open and even grateful for such an effort, now there was a retreat. Any handouts would have to be approved by the consular affairs section in Washington. Apparently, to gain approval one needs a consular official to shepard the project through the bureaucratic hurdles. Basically without an ally, our efforts are going nowhere. Written materials are only a very small part of the worker education needed. Participants in the program should be required to attend a know your rights training, either organized by the US consulate or the Guatemalan government. Currently, US employers who want to participate n the H2 program must attend an annual meeting in Guatemala. Why not have the same requirement for the workers?
The US government sends thousands of workers (approximately 5,000 from Guatemala) each year to labor in the US who have not the faintest idea of what treatment they deserve. This process ensures that the inevitable exploitation continues unabated.
January 23, 2007
Guatemala continues to be a country plagued by crime and impunity. On average, 12 homicides a day occur in the capital city of 2.5 million. In addition to the terrible security situation, two major banks have collapsed in the past four months, for the most part due to corruption. A union leader in the midst of tense contract negotiations was brutally assassinated last week. Again, it is simple to see why people feel the necessity to go to other countries to have any chance at getting ahead.
Important progress has been made with some of the injured worker cases in Guatemala. As previously noted in this blog, a Guatemalan doctor agreed to offer medical services to two workers without guarantee of reimbursement. The doctor is committed to the cause of justice for migrants and was willing to offer his services to establish the precedent that rights do not stop at borders. After months of advocacy (not litigation), the insurance company finally agreed to provide medical services to the injured ship yard worker who had returned to Guatemala. This is an important precedent.
There is substantial progress for the injured landscaper as well. Due to the potentially permanent nature of the knee injury and the ongoing resistance of the insurance company to provide medical care, additional steps are necessary. As noted in previous entries, many advocates expressed reservation at representing a worker who had left the United States. Global Workers is excited to note that the American University Washington College of Law, Human Rights Clinic has agreed to take the case. Global Workers and the clinic hope to use this case to establish the right of all injured workers to have access to workers compensation after leaving the state of Maryland. More will be reported on that case as it develops.