ILAB Project Page Search

The Strengthening Civil Society to Protect and Advocate for Migrant Workers project will provide civil society with the tools and training to protect migrant workers, particularly Mexican nationals participating in U.S. Temporary Foreign Worker programs, by supporting fair recruitment initiatives, building awareness of labor rights, and increasing the use of formal mechanisms for workers to exercise those rights.

The project will build capacity among municipal stakeholders, such as government officials, workers, worker organizations, labor unions, civil society organizations, community groups, and private-sector stakeholders, to work together to design and implement locally led actions to address child and forced labor in targeted municipalities in Chiapas and San Luis Potosi, Mexico.

The OBSERVAR project will support workplace democratic processes in Mexico through the impartial observation of workplace votes and the capacity building of key stakeholders on the issues of freedom of association and collective bargaining.

The Towards Effective Courts and Coordinated Labor Justice (TECLAB) project aims to support independent state labor courts created by Mexico’s 2019 Labor Law Reform to administer labor justice in an effective, efficient, and consistent manner.

The strengthening Mexican inspectorate for labor enforcement (CAMINOS) project aims to improve government systems for labor law enforcement through improved enforcement of labor laws by federal and state labor inspectorate, better administration of inspections, and enhanced engagement with supply chain actors in targeted USMCA sectors.

The Una Cosecha Justa project aims to increase protections for workers and reduce the risk of child labor, forced labor, and other labor rights violations among indigenous and migrant workers in the chile pepper and tomato sectors. The project will mobilize government officials, employers, workers, workers’ organizations, agricultural outreach workers, community leaders, and civil society organizations to address labor violations and increase worker engagement in advocating for their labor rights.  To achieve this, the project will work with labor stakeholders at the state and federal levels in communities that both send and receive migrant workers to develop strategies to empower workers and link them to social protection systems. In addition, the project will raise workers’ awareness of their labor rights and how to report violations.  The project will focus on the states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Guerrero, and Oaxaca.

This project will strengthen the capacity of unions to organize by legitimizing collective bargaining agreements, supporting internal leadership elections, building partnerships, and providing independent unions with legal support and training for lawyers. The project will operate in the Mexican states of Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi, Queretaro, Estado de Mexico and Mexico City, as well as Mexico’s northern states by promoting authentic collective bargaining in the automotive, auto parts, aerospace, call centers, electronics, garment, industrial bakeries, logistics and mining sectors.

The Sustentar project aims to increase private sector stakeholders’ accountability to uphold core labor standards consistent with Mexican labor laws and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s (USMCA) Labor Chapter, with a specific focus on addressing child labor, forced labor, and acceptable conditions of work.  The project will include a focus on states that produce chile peppers and tomatoes, including Baja California, Baja California Sur, and Chihuahua.