Guatemala, Guatemala 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.