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SALT LAKE CITY — Labor Day comes next Monday, meant as a tribute to the U.S. workforce.
But Eduardo Baca Cuenca, consul general of the Mexican Consulate in Salt Lake City, and the leaders of 52 other consulates are putting the focus this week on the labor rights of Mexicans across the United States.
"It's important to raise awareness among the Hispanic population about their rights and the benefits they have access to," Baca Cuenca said in a statement to KSL.com. They have the right to a minimum wage, overtime pay, unemployment insurance, sick leave and more, he went on.
It's Labor Rights Week this week, an annual event launched in 2009 by the Mexican government to bring attention to the Mexican workforce in the United States. A range of events are taking place in Utah and at other Mexican consulates across the country to mark the occasion, including talks and panel discussions.
"With over 10 million Mexican citizens working and contributing to the U.S. workforce and economy, we must protect their rights, regardless of their immigration status. Their well-being and dignity are essential to the mutual progress and prosperity of our countries," Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, said in a statement. The varied activities started on Monday in Utah and around the country and go through Friday.
A particular focus for Baca Cuenca and his counterparts around the United States, he said, is identifying instances when Mexican workers' labor rights have been violated "and providing consular help to the Mexican people who need it." The help can take the form of advising them of their labor rights, serving as an intermediary on their behalf with local officials and helping them get legal advice and representation.
Among the key problems Mexican workers in the United States face, Baca Cuenca said, are language barriers, discrimination, lack of training on how to use machinery and tools and not knowing their rights and protections as spelled out in law. In Utah, he said, he's noticed an increase in cases of workers coming with special work visas "and not getting the benefits promised."
Beyond that, the debate in the United States over immigration has intensified, with many critical of immigrants living in the country illegally. Whatever the case, Baca Cuenca said, he and his counterparts will keep up their efforts to advise victims of labor abuse of their rights.
Actual public activities to mark Labor Rights Week include talks, presentations and panel discussions on labor rights and other issues. Job safety was the focus of a panel discussion on Monday while reps from the Ogden Police Department, the Utah Coalition Against Sexual Assault and the U.S. Labor Department, among others, have also offered presentations. A job fair was set for Wednesday in West Valley City, while more presentations from legal experts, the Utah Highway Patrol and others are set for Thursday and Friday at the Mexican Consulate in Salt Lake City.
While Moctezuma Barragán put the number of Mexican workers in the United States at 10 million, Baca Cuenca said he didn't have specific numbers for the Mexican workforce in Utah. Of the estimated 546,948 Latinos in Utah as of 2023, he said, 338,842 — 62% of the total — are Mexican or of Mexican descent.
Ahead of this week's activities, the Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Moctezuma Barragán and Thea Lee, deputy undersecretary for international affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor, renewed a series of binational labor accords.
"These collaboration agreements aim to ensure that Mexican workers, regardless of their immigration status, enjoy fair and safe working conditions," the foreign ministry said. "The renewed commitments include a joint declaration to improve Mexican workers' and their employers' understanding of U.S. labor laws."
