Hard work is being done to reduce US employer abuse (sometimes akin to slavery) of foreign migrant workers. This abuse undermines the bargaining power of US workers, and depresses every economic sector that depends on consumption by workers (not to mention the government programs that depend on taxes from workers’ income and consumption).
Founded in 2005, and now hitting its stride just in time to ensure that migrant workers’ voices are heard in the impending discussion of immigration reform, is the Center for Migrants´ Rights (“CDM” per its Spanish name: Centro de los Derechos del Migrante). Its profile, programs and publications are detailed at: www.cdmigrante.org.
Abuse cuts far beyond undocumented laborers; even visa-holding migrants are often cheated out of their wages and denied their other rights. Even when wages or other funds are recovered, if a migrant worker has already left the country, remitting the funds to him or her has been subject to onerous fees and costs. CDM has created a lower cost remittance channel, and this month has published
“Money Transfers to Mexico: A Manual Examining the Transfer of Funds from U.S. Advocates to Clients in Mexico,” in collaboration with the American University Washington College of Law Immigrant Justice Clinic and the Global Workers’ Justice Alliance.
CDM has promoted transparency, education and worker self-organization, notably as a
founding member organization of the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas (National Farmworker Women’s Alliance).
CDM is the chair of the International Labor Recruitment Working Group (ILRWG), which
strives to ensure that all internationally recruited workers enjoy the same benefits and protections as all domestic workers, to be achieved through supply chain transparency, corporate accountability and cross-sector advocacy.
This is a great time to help through a donation (of any size) to CDM’s End of Year Fundraising Campaign. Its home page at
www.cdmigrante.org is set up to enable donations through
PayPal and
credit card.
Donations by check can be made to
“Centro de los Derechos del Migrante, Inc.” mailing address: 519 North Charles Street, Suite 260, Baltimore, MD 21201 USA
.