Lourdes Panela stacks lettuce heads in boxes Jan. 20, 2010, at a field east of Brawley. (JOSELITO VILLERO) |
CALEXICO — The Mexican Consulate here joins Mexico’s 50 U.S. consulates this week in celebration of Labor Rights Week.
U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solís and Mexican Ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan inaugurated the week themed “Women in the Workplace” on Monday.
Celebrated in connection with Labor Day, the week marks a collaboration between the Mexican Foreign Ministry and the U.S. Department of Labor “to promote the rights of all workers, regardless of nationality, gender or migratory status,” a Mexican Embassy press release says. “Those rights include a safe work environment and fair and timely pay.”
“While 13 percent of U.S. labor force is made of Hispanic women, we still have a long way to go to make true gender equality in the workplace a reality, and this is particularly true for Latino women,” Sarukhan said.
Consul Gina Andrea Cruz Blackledge of the Mexican Consulate in Mexico discussed the topic’s high priority for the consulate considering the large number of workers of Mexican origin in the region Monday.
“The Labor Rights Week looks to combat expressions of hate, prejudice and xenophobia against the migrant community, promoting with it a reflection about the solutions that permit addressing the issues of labor rights and migration in the United States, likewise as a priority item, the respect for the dignity and rights of women,” Blackledge said in Spanish on Monday.
Jesús A. Gutiérrez, head of the immigrant protection department for the Mexican Consulate here, said that the consulate can provide information about available resources for everything from labor rights to abuse assistance.
“It’s important for people to get that information, because they need to know where to go for certain cases,” he said.
The consulate has a labor fair at 8 a.m. today with representatives from organizations such as the California Rural Legal Assistance and Employment Development Department. There will also be a labor rights conference at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Center for Employment Training in El Centro. Both events are open to the public.
Between 2007 and August 2011, Mexico’s consular network has processed 9,601 labor-related cases with 5,962, or 62 percent, in favor of Mexican nationals, according to the Mexican Embassy to the United States.
“With this protection mechanism for the labor rights of immigrants, which we have been strengthening over the past years, we are promoting a better understanding among the American public regarding the crucial and complimentary role that migrant labor has played in the economic vitality of this nation,” Sarukhan said Monday. “Only through ever-growing trust and cooperation with relevant authorities will we succeed at preventing and deterring abuses that should not occur in the 21st century workplace.”
Staff Writer Chelcey Adami can be reached at 760-337-3452 or cadami@ivpressonline.com
U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solís and Mexican Ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan inaugurated the week themed “Women in the Workplace” on Monday.
Celebrated in connection with Labor Day, the week marks a collaboration between the Mexican Foreign Ministry and the U.S. Department of Labor “to promote the rights of all workers, regardless of nationality, gender or migratory status,” a Mexican Embassy press release says. “Those rights include a safe work environment and fair and timely pay.”
“While 13 percent of U.S. labor force is made of Hispanic women, we still have a long way to go to make true gender equality in the workplace a reality, and this is particularly true for Latino women,” Sarukhan said.
Consul Gina Andrea Cruz Blackledge of the Mexican Consulate in Mexico discussed the topic’s high priority for the consulate considering the large number of workers of Mexican origin in the region Monday.
“The Labor Rights Week looks to combat expressions of hate, prejudice and xenophobia against the migrant community, promoting with it a reflection about the solutions that permit addressing the issues of labor rights and migration in the United States, likewise as a priority item, the respect for the dignity and rights of women,” Blackledge said in Spanish on Monday.
Jesús A. Gutiérrez, head of the immigrant protection department for the Mexican Consulate here, said that the consulate can provide information about available resources for everything from labor rights to abuse assistance.
“It’s important for people to get that information, because they need to know where to go for certain cases,” he said.
The consulate has a labor fair at 8 a.m. today with representatives from organizations such as the California Rural Legal Assistance and Employment Development Department. There will also be a labor rights conference at 9 a.m. Thursday at the Center for Employment Training in El Centro. Both events are open to the public.
Between 2007 and August 2011, Mexico’s consular network has processed 9,601 labor-related cases with 5,962, or 62 percent, in favor of Mexican nationals, according to the Mexican Embassy to the United States.
“With this protection mechanism for the labor rights of immigrants, which we have been strengthening over the past years, we are promoting a better understanding among the American public regarding the crucial and complimentary role that migrant labor has played in the economic vitality of this nation,” Sarukhan said Monday. “Only through ever-growing trust and cooperation with relevant authorities will we succeed at preventing and deterring abuses that should not occur in the 21st century workplace.”
Staff Writer Chelcey Adami can be reached at 760-337-3452 or cadami@ivpressonline.com
