Region 3 - Alliance Annual Report - June 9, 2014


ANNUAL ALLIANCE REPORT
Philadelphia Regional Office ~ Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia, PA
June 9, 2014

  1. Alliance Background

    Date Signed:

    April 15, 2011

    Date Signed:

    September 9, 2013

    Alliance Overview: As of September 9, 2013 with the standardization of the Consulate of Mexico International template, the overview now is that the Participants have established collaborative relationship to provide Mexican nationals and others in Pennsylvania and Delaware information, guidance, and access to education and training resources to promote workers’ rights in protecting their occupational safety and health, and to help them understand U.S. domestic law on the rights of workers and the responsibilities of employers under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSH Act).

    Evaluation Period: April 14, 2013 - June 9, 2014

    Implementation Team Members:

    • Juan Gabriel Espejo Ceballos, Head of Protection Services & Legal Affairs
    • Adriana Clarisa Casa Medina, Protection Services & Legal Affairs
    • Yarazetd Mendoza-Camargo, Institute for Mexicans Abroad
    • Isabel DeOliveira, OSHA Regional Compliance Assistance Specialist (CAS)
    • James Touey, Labor Liaison (LL), OSHA Philadelphia Regional Office

    Contributors:

    • Carlos Giralt-Cabrales, Consul of Mexico Philadelphia
    • Natalia Jiménez Alegría- Deputy Consul of Mexico in Philadelphia
    • MaryAnn Garrahan, OSHA Regional Administrator
    • Dale Glacken, Compliance Assistance Specialist, OSHA Harrisburg Area Office
    • Dalia Nichols, Compliance Officer, OSHA Wilmington Area Office
    • Domenick Salvatore, Area Director, Philadelphia, PA OSHA (PHAO) - retired
    • Magnolia Torres, Compliance Officer, OSHA Philadelphia, PA Area Office
    • Ivette Vigano, DOL of Labor Wage and Hour Assistant Director Philadelphia PA
    • Hillary Blecker, Instructor Philaposh
    •  
  2. Implementation Team Meetings

    First Implementation Team Meeting May 1, 2013: Mexican Consulate/Bourse Building: Attended by Consul of Mexico and staff, OSHA Regional CAS and LL: Formal discussions with Consul and staff about expansion of Alliance Agreement to be a regional alliance.

    Second Implementation Team Meeting July 10, 2013: Implementation Team discussed participation in the upcoming Consulate's Bi-National Health Week and Labor Rights weeks 2013. Also the International template has been released and the renewal can be signed during Labor Rights week.

    Third Implementation Team Meeting January 19, 2014 Mexican Consulate/Bourse Building: Implementation team discussed goals for upcoming year including adding monthly talk in the Consulate waiting area. Also, possible reprint or develop products like small leaflet publications to hand out to Mexican nationals when they are picking up their passports and other official documents.

    Third Implementation Team Meeting January 19, 2014 Mexican Consulate/Bourse Building: Implementation team discussed goals for upcoming year including adding monthly talk in the Consulate waiting area. Also, possible reprint or develop products like small leaflet publications to hand out to Mexican nationals when they are picking up their passports and other official documents.

  3. Activities and Products

    Alliance Activity

    • Training and Education

      Participants decided that there were not enough new Consulate staff members to conduct the joint - Department of Labor OSHA (DOL) OSHA and Wage & Hour Division (WHD) "Get To Know the DOL- Worker’s Rights Training Session" with the Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia staff. The parties decided that it would be more prudent to schedule a class in 2015. The training curricula will be focused on employee rights, filing complaints as well as defining the limitations of the two DOL agencies.

    • Outreach and Communication

      Mobile Consulates: During this evaluation period, OSHA provided outreach and communication at "Mobile Consulates" conducted in various locations throughout Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. At these Saturday events OSHA, and Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) provided bi-lingual representatives to answer to questions posed concerning safety and health and wage related issues. Informational resource tables were provided with publication provided in both English and Spanish. OSHA also used these events to promote employee rights, employer responsibilities and the OSHA inspection, complaint, whistleblower procedures. Special emphasis on Heat Illness prevention and Fall Prevention Campaigns were highlighted in the appropriate months. OSHA describes temporary worker rights and staffing agency responsibilities at most events.

      *Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 and the beginning of FY 2014 were marred by sequestration and furlough, which restricted compliance assistance activities, especially weekend outreach activities. Therefore, OSHA was unable to participate at the following mobile consulates:

      • Scranton/Wilkes Barre, PA May 11, 2013 -
      • Philadelphia, PA, June 1, 2013 -
      • Milford, DE June 15, 2013 -
      • Pittsburgh, June 29, 2013 -
      • Lakewood, NJ July 13, 2013 -
      • Gettysburg, PA July 27, 2013 -
      • Ocean City, NJ, August 24, 2013 -
      • Dover, DE, September 28 -
      • Kennett Square, PA, October 19 - OSHA unable to participate
      •  
      • In Calendar year 2014:
      • Lebanon, PA March 8, 2014 - OSHA reached 150 workers
      • Dagsboro, DE March 22, 2014 - OSHA reached 300 workers
      • Harrisburg, PA May 17, 2014 - OSHA reached 300 workers

      Worker Outreach in Consulate office space:

      OSHA presented information on workers’ rights, how to make a complaint while workers waited for their Consulate documents. OSHA also answered questions and provided publications and other compliance assistance resources.

      • January 21, 2014 - 95 workers reached
      • February 18, 2014 - 110 workers reached
      • March 18, 2014 - 80 workers reached
      • April 15, 2014 - 85 workers reached
      • May 20, 2014 - 95 workers reached
      •  
    • Promoting the National Dialogue on Safety and Health

      July 23, 2013- The Mexican Consulate of Philadelphia invited a bi-lingual PHAO representative to participate in a live interview on their community based weekly radio program (Radio Uni-K 1680 AM a.k.a. Radio México "De Paisano a Paisano"). The interview was used to promote workplace safety and health and OSHA’s National Campaigns on Heat Illness Prevention (Water Rest Shade) and Fall Prevention. The interview also had call-in questions on worker rights, employer responsibilities and OSHA outreach efforts, over 100 workers reached.

      August 26, 2013 and September 3 ,2013: Mexican Consulate National Labor Rights Week Events- OSHA Compliance Officer attended the Labor Rights Week "Kick Off" event at the Consulate. Shared information on the ongoing OSHA Consulate Alliance. OSHA provided a resource table with emphasis on Employee Rights in the Workplace. - over 250 employees reached.

      September 9, 2013: Regional Administrator MaryAnn Garrahan and Consul of Mexico Philadelphia Carlos Giralt-Cabrales formally renewed the alliance at the end of Labor Rights week.

      September 29, 2013: OSHA participated in the 13th Annual Bi-National Health Week event sponsored by the Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia. During the event, OSHA spoke to more than 80 workers about OSHA's commitment to lowering the fatality rate for the Hispanic community and ensuring the health and safety of all workers.

      Participants promoted OSHA’s National Office Heat Illness and Fall Prevention Campaigns as well as focusing on worker’s rights. The Consulate continues to display the Heat Illness and Fall Prevention in their lobby/waiting areas and the Consulate’s web-site has links to the OSHA campaign website.

      On January 28, 2014 and on April 22, 2014: OSHA’s Wilmington Area Office Spanish speaking Radio Interview - Maxima 900 studio. Compliance Officer discussed OSHA; employee workplace rights; employer responsibilities; complaint process/11-C; the National Fall Stand-Down in June 2014, and temporary workers safety from both the staffing and host employer responsibility. Other resources available to employers/employees are bilingual materials at local AO & OSHA website; How to contact OSHA 800 number & local AO number. The program reaches nearly an 8,000 listening audience (Mexican and other Latinos) that included phone calls, texts, and Facebook messages from local listeners. The program was very active and follow-up visits were requested by Maxima 900 staff and audience/callers.

      On May 21, 2014 - Consulate posting an outreach picture on their twitter account, which USDOL retweeted. @ConsulmexFila. CG pic.twitter.com/75pKTaCPe1

    Alliance Products

    There were no Alliance specific products developed during this evaluation time frame.

  4. Results April 14, 2013 - June 9, 2014

    The Alliance had a very effective third year. The Participants worked closely together to reach the Mexican Community though a variety of different venues.

    Type of Activity (Conference, Training, Print and Electronic Distribution, etc.) Number of Individuals Reached or Trained
    Mobile Consulates (3) 750 * Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 and very beginning of FY 2014 were marred by sequestration and furlough, which restricted compliance assistance weekend outreach activities.
    Labor Rights Week Events (2) 250
    Consulate Outreach - platicas (5) 465
    Media (radio, television) 8,000
    Tweet - Consul Mexico has 49 followers 49
    TOTAL: 9,514
  5. Upcoming Milestones

    The Participants expanded the Area Office Alliance into a Regional agreement on September 2013.

    The goal is to expand the effects of the cooperative programs on a larger geographical area. The Consulate will continue to provide OSHA with assistance in making contacts within the Hispanic business community in an effort to heighten the understanding of the role of OSHA. OSHA will also continue to provide representatives for the Consulate’s "Mobile Consulates" as this has been determined to be a successful means to engage the Mexican community concerning labor issues.

Report Prepared by: Isabel DeOliveira, Regional Compliance Assistance Specialist, Philadelphia OSHA Regional Office.

For more information, contact the Office of Outreach Services and Alliances at 202-693-2340 or go to www.osha.gov