VZCZCXYZ0006
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #2015 2782239
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 052239Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4046
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 4583
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 002015 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOL FOR CROMERO, PCHURCH, LBUFFO 
DEPT FOR WHA/PPC MPUCCETTI 
DEPT ALSO FOR DRL/ILCSR MMITTELHAUSER, JVIRAY, GRIGG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB SMIG EIND PHUM ECON PGOV SOCI GT
SUBJECT: LABOR MINISTRY HOSTS SEMINAR ON MIGRANT WORKERS 
AND THE INFORMAL SECTOR 
 
 
¶1. Summary:  The Ministry of Labor hosted a seminar September 
26 and presented the results of a nationwide study on migrant 
workers and the informal sector.  The seminar, attended by 
over 150 representatives from government, academia, private 
sector, civil society, and the labor movement, aimed to raise 
awareness and to build consensus for public policies that 
address the needs of migrant workers and workers in the 
informal economy.  End summary. 
 
¶2. On September 26, the Ministry of Labor hosted a seminar on 
migrant workers and workers in the informal sector, who 
together comprise two-thirds of the local labor force. 
Informal sector workers alone comprise 75 percent of the work 
force.  The seminar focused attention on the need for public 
policy to address violations of human rights as well as to 
improve access to social services, health care, micro-credit, 
and other services.  It was the second such seminar hosted by 
the Ministry this year.  Participants included government 
officials, academics, private sector representatives, civil 
society groups, and labor leaders. 
 
¶3. Labor Inspector General Celeste Ayala said that the 
Ministry of Labor is working with civil society, employers, 
and workers to assess the problem of unemployment.  According 
to Ayala, Guatemala is losing valuable human capital as a 
result of migration of workers to other countries, especially 
the United States where wages are higher and Canada where 
there is enormous potential for agricultural workers. 
 
¶4. According to Roberto Cordero, Chief of the Labor 
Statistics Unit at the Ministry of Labor, the modern 
migratory phenomenon began 25 years ago in the 1980s.  A 
variety of factors, including political persecution, 
insecurity, instability, and internal displacement, prompted 
many to migrate during the internal conflict.  Today, the 
lack of income-generating sources and socio-economic 
development, especially in rural areas, are prompting workers 
to migrate internally to urban areas as well as to seek 
better employment opportunities outside the country. 
Estimating that currently 1.2 million documented and 
undocumented Guatemalans live in the U.S., Cordero stressed 
that any discussion of public policy on employment should 
include internal migration as well as external migration. 
 
¶5. Cordero presented the results of a recent USG-funded 
nationwide study of vendors in the informal sector, primarily 
in municipal street markets.  The study showed that most of 
these informal sector workers were young, with the majority 
(58 percent) between 14 and 34 years of age, and 98.7 percent 
with no social security.  The majority identified themselves 
as indigenous, and two-thirds said they had no education or 
only primary education.  One-third had some secondary 
education. 
 
¶6. Women constituted 56.1 percent of this informal work force 
nationwide, while men represented 43.9 percent.  Almost half 
(45 percent) originated from parts of the country other than 
where they were working.  Twenty-eight percent expressed 
intentions to emigrate.  Of those, 21 percent said they 
intended to go to the U.S.  Future studies will focus on 
other segments of the informal sector, such as agricultural 
workers, domestic workers, and self-employed workers, to 
complement the data collected in this study. 
 
¶7. According to Miguel Ugalde of the Institute of Social and 
Economic Research (IDIES) of Rafael Landivar University, 
migrant workers represent more than one-third of the 
country's active labor force.  Guatemalan migrant workers 
also constitute a growing labor force overseas.  In the past 
few years, remittances have increased by 20 percent annually, 
surpassing USD 4 billion from the U.S. this year.  Ugalde 
estimated that currently 29 percent of the population 
receives remittances. 
 
¶8. Ugalde noted that there have been reports of violations of 
human rights of migrant workers, both in Mexico and the U.S., 
including labor and sexual exploitation involving excessive 
use of force and limitations on their freedom of movement. 
The Office of the Presidential Commissioner on Human Rights 
(COPREDEH) is preparing a report on Guatemala's fulfillment 
of commitments under the 1990 UN Convention that guarantees 
fundamental human rights to all migrant workers, documented 
and undocumented, and members of their families. 
Lindwall