Guatemala, Guatemala 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.