OSHA News

An Alliance Signed Between US Labor Department and Mexican Consulate in New York and Diocese of Brooklyn

(December 14, 2009) - The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and Wage and Hour Division get into partnership with the Consulate General of Mexico in New York as part of an effort to promote the labor and human rights of Mexican and other Hispanic workers. The New York State Department of Labor (NYS DOL) and the Catholic Migration Office (CMO) of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn are also part of the alliance. Both the participants will work collaboratively to support a call center that will provide Mexican and other Hispanic workers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut education, guidance and assistance about their rights in the workplace.

"It's very simple. The law says every worker has both the right to proper compensation for hours worked and to a safe workplace," said Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. "The purpose of this alliance is to provide Mexican and other Latino workers in the tri-state area with the information and resources that will help them recognize and challenge unsafe and improper working conditions, and to raise awareness of their rights as working people. After all, knowledge is a worker's most valuable tool."

The alliance was signed at the Mexican consulate by OSHA Regional Administrators Robert Kulick (New York) and Marthe Kent (New England); Wage and Hour Division Northeast Regional Administrator Corlis L. Sellers; Ambassador Ruben Beltran, Consul General of Mexico; CMO Executive Director Edward Dominguez; and NYS DOL Deputy Commissioner for Wage Protection and Immigrant Affairs Terri Gerstein.

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