News Brief
US Department of Labor, Consulate of Mexico in New Orleans renew agreement to promote understanding of worker rights
Participants: U.S. Department of Labor
Consulate of Mexico in New Orleans
Agreement description: The department’s Wage and Hour Division has renewed its agreement with the Consulate of Mexico to provide Spanish-speaking workers in Louisiana and Mississippi with information and guidance on their rights as workers, and access to training.
The three-year agreement includes joint initiatives to raise awareness among low-wage, at-risk workers of their rights and protections, and seeks to decrease wage violations by helping these workers understand their employers’ responsibilities to pay them their full wages as required by the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection and the Fair Labor Standards acts.
Background: The U.S. Department of Labor establishes agreements with government entities, employer organizations, trade associations, worker advocates and other stakeholders to enhance its efforts to provide training and education, and raise awareness of employer responsibilities and workers’ rights under federal law. The renewed agreement with the Consulate of Mexico in New Orleans will enable both parties to better coordinate opportunities to reach native Mexicans working in the two-state region and provide them with information on workplace rights and protections.
Quote: “The Wage and Hour Division values its relationship with the Consulate of Mexico,” said Wage and Hour District Director Troy Mouton in New Orleans. “Renewing our agreement solidifies our ability to work with Mexican government officials to ensure we provide native Mexicans here with information about worker protections under U.S. law and connect them with the resources they may need to exercise their rights.”
