Dear Friends,

Last week, we received the long-awaited report on outreach events targeting migrant workers, released jointly by the governments of the U.S. and Mexico, following CDM’s 2011 complaint under the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC). While we are pleased to see cooperation between the two governments, we are disappointed that their response to our petition was limited to holding educational events, failing to to address some of our key recommendations relating to to enforcement and accountability on behalf of the U.S. government.

We also co-hosted the Baltimore premiere of Farewell Ferris Wheel, a documentary about Maryland’s carnival industry, in early September. The screening was followed by a panel discussion on the guestworker program and the traveling fair and carnival industry.

Our Director of Operations, Julia Coburn, led a workshop on CDM’s Contratados.org the Annual Staff Development Conference of the Florida Department of Education Farmworker Career Development and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Outreach Program. We’re thrilled to report State Monitor Advocates were excited to use Contratados as an anti-trafficking tool.

We value everything you do for CDM and invite you to support us with a donation as we continue to fight to uphold migrant workers’ rights.

In Solidarity,

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Rachel Micah-Jones
Executive Director
Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc. (CDM)

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Mexico and U.S. governments release report on outreach events, following NAALC complaint

After more than five years of advocacy, the governments of Mexico and the U.S. issued a report regarding a complaint filed by CDM and allies on behalf of migrant workers who experienced workplace violations, including not being paid the minimum federal wage and not earning adequate overtime pay.

These violations were a result of the U.S. government’s systematic failure to enforce domestic labor laws to protect Mexican migrant workers. under the the North American Agreement on Labor Cooperation (NAALC). Signed in parallel with NAFTA, NAALC’s main objective is “to improve working conditions and living standards in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada.”

The report details a series of educational and outreach events carried out by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Mexican Secretariat of Labor (STPS) after signing a Ministerial Consultations Joint Declaration, committing to consult with stakeholders on the matter in order to develop an outreach work plan. The Public Report on Outreach Events is the long-awaited summary of both governments to address these allegations. Activities included educational panels on workers’ rights and employers’ responsibilities, as well as mechanisms to assert those rights.

CDM released a statement commending the governments of Mexico and the U.S. for the events, but regretted their reluctance to act on enforcement mechanisms: “While CDM recognizes actions undertaken jointly by the governments of U.S. and Mexico to inform workers about their rights as a symbolic first step, we emphasize that there is still much to be done in terms of enforcing workplace protections.”

The complaint denounced the U.S. government’s failure to protect migrant workers against abuse, both in U.S. workplaces and in the recruitment process abroad.  However, the outreach program detailed in the Public Report only addressed the educational component of CDM’s petition, ignoring other fundamental recommendations — including that the Department of Labor take a more active role in ensuring that migrant workers are protected on the job.  

Currently, the Department of Labor does not provide workers with a recourse to action, has a limited capacity to investigate violations, and has no transparency in the recruitment process.

“We stress the need for the governments of Mexico and the U.S. to address the rest of the points in CDM’s complaint in order to uphold minimum labor and employment standards for migrant workers under NAALC.”

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CDM Hosts Screening of Documentary on Carnival Industry Abuses

screen-shot-2016-09-29-at-5-20-05-pmOn September 7, CDM co-hosted the Baltimore premiere of the documentary Farewell Ferris Wheel. The film looks into Maryland’s carnival industry and features commentary on the experiences Mexican H-2B workers by CDM’s Executive Director Rachel Micah-Jones.

With funding from Latino Public Broadcasting, Firelight and others, filmmakers Jamie Sisley and Miguel Martinez spent six years documenting the U.S carnival industry, including its effects on “guest workers.”

CDM believes the film can spark debates about workplace rights and organized a panel discussion after the screening.

Co-hosted by CDM, Center for Progressive Reform, Maryland Immigrant Rights Coalition, Open Society Institute, and Public Justice Center, the event took place in Baltimore’s Impact Hub.

The film, which won the Tribeca Film Institute Creative Promise Award, is scheduled to air on PBS in the fall.

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CDM discusses digital outreach with Monitor Advocates in Florida

On August 4th and 5th, our Director of Operations, Julia Coburn, travelled to Orlando, Florida to attend the Annual Staff Development Conference of the Florida Department of Education Farmworker Career Development and the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Outreach Program.  

While at the conference, Julia held a workshop on CDM’s Contratados.org adovcacy platform and met with Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Monitor Advocates, Department of Labor Wage & Hour investigators, and others serving Florida’s H-2A, seasonal and migrant farmworker community.

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Among other topics, Julia and monitor advocates discussed strategies for combining news and blogs on Contratados.org with social media to provide Florida-based workers with targeted know-your-rights information and alerts. The 40 State Monitor Advocates were enthusiastic about using Contratados.org as an anti-trafficking tool.

As the state with the most H-2A farmworkers in the country, Florida is an especially important region to advance migrant workers’ rights.

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Introducing New Team Members

Evy Peña is thscreen-shot-2016-09-29-at-5-20-21-pme new Communications Coordinator. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University, where she majored in Comparative Politics and focused on Latin America and the Middle East. Prior to joining CDM, Evy worked in a communications consultancy, designing and implementing strategies for transnational companies and nonprofits around regulatory affairs, trade and labor disputes, and humanitarian and sustainability initiatives. She has also worked as a research assistant, analyzing marginalized groups and exclusive policies in Latin America, and as a reporter for the daily El Norte, where she covered arts and culture in her hometown of Monterrey.

Robert Dohrn is a volunteer based in the Mexico City office. He became interested in immigration issues during his time living in the American Southwest and in Southern Mexico, where he had the opportunity to volunteer at La 72 Casa de Migrante in Tenosique, Tabasco. Robert is consistently flabbergasted by the critical and misunderstood nature of immigration in the Americas. He is particularly interested in CDM’s focus on the intersection of immigration and labor law as well as its unique capacity to provide transnational support to legally underserved communities.

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Employment Opportunity

We’re looking for a professional and experienced Operations Manager to join our dynamic, binational, multilingual team! The Operations Manager will handle the day-to-day operations of our Baltimore office; identify, recruit and train candidates for open positions; manage finances in collaboration with the Executive Director and Finance Director; and assist with major administrative functions.

To learn more about the opportunity, please visit: https://www.cdmigrante.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Operations-Manager-Job-Posting.pdf

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CDM in the News