SAI is the sub-recipient of two new US Department of Labor grants helping to develop projects to improve working conditions in Latin America, in partnership with grant recipient Partners of the America (PoA). Both projects began in 2021 and will take place over four to five years.
Mexico
In Mexico, the project will help raise awareness among workers, employers, and union leaders about new labor requirements and work to strengthen capacity of government institutions to monitor labor rights and implement reforms. By building understanding of Mexico’s new labor systems and strengthening federal and state-level labor institutions, this project will help improve relations between labor stakeholders.
Expected outcomes include increasing the ability of workers, employers, and union leaders to use Mexico’s new labor systems to protect labor rights and effectively address labor disputes. As part of this effort, SAI will develop and utilize networks among top-tier employer associations to reach and provide guidance on responsible sourcing alternatives to second-tier suppliers throughout Mexico. These suppliers tend to work with very vulnerable worker populations with little understanding of mandated reforms contained within the law. Capacity building for government institutions will focus on the federal Secretariat, state labor secretariats and constituents from other key institutions, such as the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registration and state and local conciliation centers.
Funding is provided by the United States Department of Labor under cooperative agreement number IL-35868-21-75-K. 100% of the total costs of the project is financed with federal funds, for a total of U.S. $10,000,000 dollars. This material does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government.
Colombia
In Colombia, the project will work to address possible labor rights violations in Colombia’s port sector, as well as build institutional capacity and strengthen workers organizations to address disparities primarily affecting Afro-Colombian populations in selected port cities, notably Buenaventura, Colombia’s main port. The project will work to engage and train operators, sub-contractors, and other stakeholders to assess the true costs and benefits of social compliance and demonstrate the positive impacts of ensuring fair labor conditions.
Beyond assessing the true costs of compliance, this project will also work to address racial inequities in the city of Buenaventura, which has a majority Afro-Colombian population. The project’s primary goals are to increase understanding of barriers to compliance with national laws related to internationally recognized labor rights, develop and demonstrate effectiveness of approaches to support compliance, and increase awareness and adoption of these approaches in Colombia’s port sector. Beyond assessing the main challenges related to compliance with local and international labor laws, the project will also work to address racial, labor and social inequities in cities like Buenaventura, which has a majority Afro-Colombian population and disproportionate rates of poverty.
Colombia: Funding is provided by the United States Department of Labor under cooperative agreement number IL-35742-20-75-K. 100% of the total costs of the project is financed with federal funds, for a total of U.S. $5,000,000 dollars. This material does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government.
For more information on these projects, please write to lvanegas@sa-intl.org.
