Guatemala City, Guatemala November 12, 2007
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.