WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an award of $2.5 million to support an initiative to assess and expand the successful Fair Food Program model with a pilot project to promote human and labor rights focused on cut flower farms in Chile, Mexico and South Africa. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an award of $4.25 million to continue its efforts to end forced labor by supporting a global technical assistance project by the International Labor Organization, a United Nations’ agency seeking to advance social and economic justice by setting international labor standards and promoting rights at work.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh joined Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker today to sign a memorandum that gives the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the authority to issue certifications in support of applications for U Nonimmigrant Status and T Nonimmigrant Status visas.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh issued the following statement about the December 2022 and January 2023 sentencings of six trade union leaders in Belarus:

WASHINGTON – The U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement’s Interagency Labor Committee for Monitoring and Enforcement today requested that the government of Mexico conduct another review at the VU Manufacturing parts facility in Piedras Negras, Coahuila, in response to an allegation the facility continues to deny workers’ rights.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $10 million cooperative agreement to The Ergo Group to provide assistance to state labor courts in Mexico in protecting worker rights as part of the country’s 2019 labor law reform.

WASHINGTON – The governments of the U.S. and Mexico signed a memorandum of understanding on Jan. 17, 2023, to strengthen protections for workers participating in temporary foreign worker programs.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $3 million cooperative agreement project to Impactt Limited to increase the capacity of field workers and their families to advocate and organize for the improvement of working and living conditions in the Dominican Republic sugar industry.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a $4 million award to support the International Labor Organization’s work to implement a technical assistance project in West Africa. The ILO will work with the government of Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States to catalyze regional, national and local action to address child labor in agriculture sectors and communities. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $5 million cooperative agreement to the Solidarity Center to elevate women’s participation in the workplace, particularly those among underserved groups or populations in the West African nations of Liberia and Nigeria.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh today announced that Argentina, Canada, Germany, South Africa and Spain have joined the Multilateral Partnership for Organizing, Worker Empowerment and Rights initiative and that the effort has established a new action plan and that the U.S. has exceeded its 2021 pledge of support. The M-POWER initiative remains the largest U.S. government commitment to advance worker empowerment and support trade union rights in the global economy.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Deputy Undersecretary for International Labor Affairs Thea Lee issued the following statement on the Department of State’s appointment of Kelly Marie Fay Rodriguez as Special Representative for International Labor Affairs: 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the European Commission today led the inaugural principals’ meeting of the U.S. and European Union tripartite Trade and Labor Dialogue.

WASHINGTON – Deputy Undersecretary of Labor for International Affairs Thea Lee visited Colombia from Nov. 27 to Dec. 1 to promote workers’ rights and protections, and to meet with Colombia’s labor and trade officials in the new Gustavo Petro administration and discuss progress on labor commitments under the U.S.-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $12 million cooperative agreement to the American Center for International Labor Solidarity to strengthen democratic, independent workers’ organizations in Brazil, Colombia and Peru.

WASHINGTON – Deputy Undersecretary of Labor for International Affairs Thea Lee visited Vietnam from Nov. 15 through 17, 2022, to resume a dialogue on labor issues that began in 2002.

WASHINGTON – In the first visit to Jordan by a senior U.S. Department of Labor official in more than two decades, Deputy Undersecretary of Labor for International Affairs Thea Lee met with government officials, and labor union and business leaders for discussions on how the two nations can cooperatively help strengthen workers’ rights in the Middle East kingdom.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $2 million cooperative agreement to support the improvement of labor conditions and prevent forced labor and child labor in Uzbekistan’s cotton industry.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has announced updated and new tools designed to eliminate child and forced labor worldwide by detailing the scope and potential sources of the problems, and providing guidance to those combating them.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative today participated in the first meeting of the trans-Atlantic tripartite Trade and Labor Dialogue.

Launched under the U.S.-European Union Trade and Technology Council, the dialogue allows participants to engage on trans-Atlantic trade and labor issues with government, labor and business stakeholders in the U.S. and Europe.