The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently awarded a $5 million grant to the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (ACILS) to assist in protecting workers’ rights in the agricultural sector in Honduras and Guatemala and the clothing industry in El Salvador.

The cooperative agreement, administered by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, will concentrate its efforts on underserved communities in the three countries with a focus on gender and racial equity, a Dec. 20 DOL press release said. The project will include legal advice for workers, advocacy campaign planning and open communication with local organizations.

“In Guatemala and Honduras, the project will target workers in the palm, banana and melon sectors, while in El Salvador the project will target workers in apparel factories,” the DOL said in the release.

The project’s goal is to improve workers’ ability to exercise their rights through helping worker organizations improve their ability to negotiate for better conditions and wages in the agricultural and clothing sectors, the release said. The project also aims to “improve engagement between workers and government officials as well as the private sector to negotiate, address and resolve workers’ rights concerns.”

The ACILS will instruct workers at the “grassroots level” to increase worker participation in negotiations as well as improve their ability to exercise their rights, the release said.

“The agreement is part of a more than $20 million commitment to promote respect for and compliance with labor rights in the region, and a component of the Biden-Harris administration’s Root Causes of Migration Strategy,” the DOL said in the release.