The U.S. Department of Labor hosted an event celebrating Labor Rights Week 2022 at the consular section of the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C.
The celebration was the first of a number of national events planned, according to an Aug. 29 news release.
“Labor Rights Week is a time to recommit to our promise of protecting the rights of low-wage and vulnerable workers,” Wage and Hour Division Principal Deputy Administrator Jessica Looman said in the release.
Representatives from the department met with Ambassador Esteban Moctezuma, Rafael Laveaga, chief of the Mexican embassy's consular section; Vanessa Calva, general director for consular protections and strategic planning; Jessica Mendoza, Guatemala's consul general; Lorena Mojica, El Salvador's vice consul; and Allan Agurcia, consul from the Honduran embassy's consular section, the release reported.
Looman said the Labor Department is committed to ensuring employers know their legal responsibilities and that workers know they are protected under the law that secure their wages, safety and well-being. Those protections also work to prevent workplace discrimination and harassment, according to the release.
“We want to ensure that every person who comes to the United States seeking work has access to good, safe jobs that pay a decent wage and that they do not face any kind of discrimination or harassment – regardless of their immigration status,” Deputy Undersecretary for International Affairs Thea Lee said in the release.
Those priorities are critical in essential sectors including agriculture, where many migrant workers pick and process food. Their rights need to be protected from the moment they are recruited in their own country through their time on the job in the United States and then their return home, Lee said, according to the release.
