While investigating the coercive tactics of the US forestry companies (actually, the subcontractors the companies hire to recruit the guest workers) Global Workers learned first hand of the particularly exploitative conditions under which these Guatemalans labor legally in the US. Although illegal under US and Guatemalan law, the Guatemalan workers are required to pay upfront all of their transportation and visa fees to go to the US through the guest worker program. Borrowing typically US$1,500 (almost one year salary for a subsistence farmer) from private unregulated lenders who charge 10-20% interest per month, these workers arrive in the USA deeply in debt and desperate to work to pay off the loans. Earning $150-$350 (way under the minimum wage for a 60 hour work week) a week after taxes, housing and food costs, many workers complained to us that they do not earn enough to even pay off the loans.
Why then do the pine tree workers return year after year? The answer lays in the fraud that is rampant in the whole guest worker system. Many forestry companies request visas for double the length of the actual work then allow the worker to go “free”, that is go work illegally for another company. It is the unauthorized work where they make enough money to justify the return year after year. But, if one can’t find work off the books or some tragedy befalls a worker, then the debt spirals out of control putting the small land holder in Guatemala at risk of losing the only thing he has—his land. As we write this, a mother of two in Guatemala is considering migrating illegally to the US because her husband died while planting pine trees in the US leaving her with a crushing debt that rises dramatically every month. What option does she have but to abandon her small children to seek work in the US in order to keep a roof over her children’s heads? As currently structured, the US guest worker program fosters exploitation and is truly a shameful regime.
Huehuetenago, in the northwest highlands of Guatemala, is the largest migrant sending area in Guatemala. From here originate most of the approx. 4,000 forestry workers who go the US every year through the guest worker program to plant pine tree saplings. One of Global Workers’ partners in the US, contacted us to investigate a disturbing case. This NGO currently has several class actions pending on behalf of grossly underpaid pine tree workers. Apparently, the Guatemalan recruiter and a representative from the US company pressured the workers (almost 500 of them) to “opt-out” of the case in order to “support the company.” The workers who were attending the recruitment meeting had little choice but to sign the form if they wanted to return to the US. A coercive action like this is unprecedented. Global Workers worked with the US NGO to investigate the facts and obtain affidavits from the workers. Once the judge learns of the circumstances it is hoped that he will nullify all of the “opt-outs” and the 4,000 worker strong case will continue forward.
Global Workers had a very productive meeting with the US Consul General and his staff. Much to our delight, the consulate has taken our advice seriously and is putting in to practice our suggestions to reduce worker exploitation. Recently, they began distributing to every H-2B guest worker (approx 5,000 in 2006) a know your labor rights flyer with contact information for assistance. Global Workers had provided the consulate with the first draft (designed in collaboration with the Southern Poverty Law Center) during a previous visit. Prior to Global Workers advocacy, the guest workers received their visas from the US consulate and then went legally to the US without the slightest idea of their rights. In large part due to an absolute lack of knowledge of their rights, these workers were subject to levels of exploitation that arose to trafficking in several instances (see New York Times articles on our Publications page). In addition, they have committed to informing US employers of the Guatemalan labor laws that are implicated when they recruit workers to go abroad. Apparently, they will be sharing their efforts with other consulates across the world that handle the guest worker program. The US consulate in Guatemala has taken a very important step forward to help these workers and must be commended for taking the lead.
Global Workers came to Guatemala with several objectives: to secure the commitment of additional NGOs to join the network; to continue the advocacy with the US consulate; and to investigate a guest worker forestry case in the western highlands. Fortunately, all the objectives were successfully met. Global Workers is proud to announce that the Guatemalan Social Ministries on Human Mobility, the Center for Migrants in San Marcos, and the Social Ministries in Huehuetenango have committed to working with us to serve transnational migrants. After several years of outreaching to Guatemalan human rights organizations, we have finally identified and received commitments from enough advocates to set the first training. In April we hope to train Guatemalan and Mexican advocates together on US employment law so they can they can they work in partnership with their counterparts in the US to ensure justice for migrants who have worked in the USA.