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.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $3 million to the American Center for International Labor Solidarity for a project to improve working conditions and labor rights standards in Bangladesh’s ready-made garments, tea, shrimp farming and construction industries.

WASHINGTON – Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and U.S.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. and Mexico today announced that, in response to a petition provided in the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the Mexican government took actions to ensure a free and fair election to choose union representation for workers at the Manufacturas VU Auto Components facility in Piedras Negras, State of Coahuila.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced publication of its seventh report detailing ongoing concerns about egregious working conditions and labor law enforcement challenges in the Dominican Republic’s sugar industry.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced its support for the negotiation of commitments under the Trade, Supply Chain, Clean Economy and Fair Economy Pillars of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity, which seek to advance labor rights and strengthen international labor standards.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a funding opportunity availability of up to $10 million to support the work of the local, state-level labor courts created by Mexico’s 2019 labor law reform. The project will focus on strengthening the capacity of the courts to adjudicate labor cases, particularly those related to freedom of association, collective bargaining and other fundamental labor rights.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced its intention to fund a grant of up to $3 million to improve the working and living conditions for field workers and their families in the Dominican Republic sugar sector.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced a funding opportunity of up to $5 million in grant funding to improve workplace protections for women in Liberia and Nigeria, particularly women from underserved groups or populations.

Administered by the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, this opportunity will finance a project that seeks to achieve the following:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced an opportunity for up to $12 million in grant funding to strengthen democratic, independent workers’ organizations and help promote labor rights in supply chains in Brazil, Colombia and Peru. The project will focus on underserved communities and seek to advance gender and racial equity.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of grant funding of $12 million to the American Institutes for Research to empower federal and state labor inspectors in Mexico to improve enforcement of Mexico’s landmark 2019 labor law reform in five of its states.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced availability of up to $5 million in grant funding to support efforts to address abusive labor practices, particularly in cattle-raising areas of Brazil and Paraguay.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor announced the availability of up to $4 million in funding to support the Economic Community of West African States and the Government of Nigeria in their efforts to address child labor in agricultural communities. 

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor has awarded a $7 million cooperative agreement to increase worker protections to reduce child labor, forced labor and other forms of labor exploitation in the chile pepper and tomato sectors operating in the Mexican states of Baja California, Baja California Sur, Chihuahua, Guerrero and Oaxaca.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government today requested the Mexican government review whether the rights of free association and collective bargaining have been denied to workers at the VU Manufacturing parts facility in Piedras Negras, Coahuila. 

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh and Spain’s Second Vice President and Minister of Labor and Social Economy Yolanda Díaz Pérez met in Washington on July 20, 2022, to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that reasserts both countries’ commitment to addressing a wide range of concerns affecting workers and underserved populations.