 |
|
|
 News from Around the Americas | December 2006 
Education About Rights is Job No. 1
 Albor Ruiz - NY Daily News
| | A woman holds a youngster during a Mass and prayer vigil at Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Greeley, Colo., Friday, Dec. 15, 2006. The Mass and vigil were dedicated to those arrested in Tuesday's ICE raid on a Greeley meat plant and to their families. (AP/Ed Andrieski) |
It is a good initiative, and it will surely offer protection to some of the many hardworking immigrants who are routinely exploited by unscrupulous employers.
The U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division and the consul general of Mexico in New York, Ambassador Ramón Xilotl-Ramírez, signed an agreement to combine resources to educate and inform Mexican workers about their rights under American labor laws.
"The Department of Labor is going in the right direction," Xilotl-Ramírez said on Thursday, during the signing ceremony at the Mexican Consulate in Manhattan.
Yet both the Labor Department and the Mexican Consulate face an uphill battle to earn the workers' trust, without which this program cannot succeed.
In the current repressive climate that permeates the country - just last Tuesday, in a massive immigration raid, 1,200 Swift meat packing plants immigrant employees were arrested in six states - the reluctance of immigrant workers to take part in any program involving the government can hardly be a surprise.
They fear that their names could be turned over to immigration authorities, and they could end up like the Swift workers.
"It is important to understand that all workers are entitled to protection under the laws we enforce regardless of immigration status," said Philip Jacobson, district director for the Wage and Hour Division office in the city. "When we enforce the rights of the most vulnerable workers, all workers and businesses are protected from unfair competition by unscrupulous employers."
Corlis Sellers, the division's regional administrator for the Northeast region, emphasized the Labor Department's independence from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other immigration enforcement agencies.
"We do not work with immigration authorities," she said. "Through our collaborative efforts [with the consulate], we hope to educate workers on their rights and assure them that they are fully protected under the statutes enforced by the Wage and Hour Division."
The alliance, entitled TEACH (Trabajadores Edifican Alianza en la Comunidad Hispana) or Workers Building Outreach in the Spanish Speaking Community, was created to provide Mexican workers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut specialized legal assistance and counseling about their rights regarding minimum wage, overtime, underage labor, discrimination and labor laws.
While the Wage and Hour Division will distribute educational material in Spanish to workers and employers, the consulate will act as a liaison between the Mexican citizens and the division to report allegations of wage and hour violations, to assist in locating workers and to help in distributing back wages.
Mexican community organizations such as Asociación Tepeyac and Casa Puebla, as well as unions, churches and even Mexican soccer teams will have an important role to play. Workers trust these institutions, and the consulate will work with them to reach the laborers.
The agreement includes a hotline that Spanish-speaking workers can call with questions. The number is (718) 254-9416. Also, starting in January 2007, every Wednesday from 9 to 11 a.m., a representative of the Labor Department will be at the Consulate of Mexico to answer workers' questions.
All well and good.
Yet without a comprehensive, smart and fair immigration policy, programs like this, as good as they may be, will never be enough to end the shameful exploitation of immigrant workers. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us