VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #0253 0771620
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181620Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7133
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 5134
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000253 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR DRL/ILCSR 
DOL FOR PCHURCH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PHUM KJUS KDEM PGOV ECON GT
SUBJECT: WORKERS' RIGHTS CENTER ASSISTS INDIGENOUS WORKERS 
IN CHIMALTENANGO 
 
REF: 08 GUATEMALA 1502 
 
¶1. Summary:  On February 25, Embassy officers made a site 
visit to a USG-funded Workers Rights Center in Chimaltenango. 
 Poloffs met with the project coordinator and an indigenous 
staff lawyer who discussed the project's achievements and 
challenges during the first three months of its operation. 
Since its opening in September 2008 through the end of 
December 2008, the center has provided legal assistance to 
226 workers, mostly indigenous, processed 621 complaints, and 
educated 472 workers on their labor rights.  Plans are under 
way to open two other workers rights centers, one in 
Guatemala City and the other in Villa Nueva.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. On February 25, poloffs visited a Workers' Rights Center 
that opened in Chimaltenango in September 2008 with funding 
from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) and Catholic Relief 
Services (CRS).  The Center provides free and confidential 
legal assistance and educates workers on their rights. 
According to project coordinator Roberto Tobar, during the 
first trimester (October - December 2008), the Center 
assisted 226 workers (195 men and 31 women), of which 204 
were employed in the maquila sector.  It processed a total of 
621 cases, referring 66 to the courts and 555 for 
administrative action.  Most of the cases concerned workers' 
compensation and benefits, denial of permission to seek 
medical attention, and suspension of employment contracts. 
In addition to providing legal assistance, the Center 
conducted workshops, educating a total of 472 workers from 
various sectors on their labor rights, and a public awareness 
campaign, reaching 1,500 workers in the maquila and other 
sectors, including the agro-export sector. 
 
¶3. Tobar commented that the departments of Chimaltenango and 
Sacatepequez constitute a concentrated zone of 
agro-industrial and apparel factories that export primarily 
to the U.S., and that it is "an area of constant labor 
conflict."  The key objective of the Center is to ensure that 
workers are apprised of their labor rights.  Tobar stressed 
the need to increase the Center's capacity in order to 
enhance its credibility and engender greater confidence among 
workers; expand the geographic coverage of its services; 
incorporate its volunteers under an internship program; and 
implement a train-the-trainers program.  He acknowledged the 
political support of the Ministry of Labor, and observed that 
labor-management relations present serious challenges. 
 
¶4. CRS project coordinator Walter Paxtor Garcia noted the 
importance of sensitizing government officials to workers' 
rights and demonstrating to the GOG that change is possible. 
He attributed the initial success of the Center to the 
confidentiality and no-cost of its services; a highly 
competent local labor lawyer in whom workers have full 
confidence and trust; and its dedicated staff and volunteers. 
 Currently, the center has two full-time staff, including 
Nilda Ileana Quex de Sincal, an indigenous lawyer.  She 
observed that Guatemala has very few indigenous female 
lawyers.  She noted that she is one of 15 indigenous lawyers 
(11 men and 4 women) in the Department of Chimaltenango, and 
that approximately 90 percent of the workers who seek 
assistance at the Center are indigenous. 
 
¶5. Comment: It is encouraging that within just three months, 
with the support of USDOL, CRS, and the Ministry of Labor, 
the Workers Rights Center in Chimaltenango has produced 
concrete results and instilled public confidence among local 
Qconcrete results and instilled public confidence among local 
workers.  The Center's no-cost legal and educational services 
in an area where many indigenous workers traditionally have 
had limited access to justice represent an important step 
toward improving respect for labor rights and building a 
culture of compliance.  Still, administration of labor 
justice in the region is hobbled by lack of training for 
labor inspectors and lack of follow-up on court cases.  A 
logical next step for this program would be to collaborate 
with the Ministry of Labor and the Attorney General's Office 
on training of labor inspectors and follow-up of labor cases 
in the courts. 
McFarland