ANNUAL ALLIANCE REPORT
Philadelphia Regional Office - Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia, PA
July 30, 2015

1. Alliance Background

   Date Signed: September 9, 2013

   Scheduled Renewed: August 31, 2015 (tentative)

   Alliance Overview: Standardization of the Consulate of Mexico International template, the overview is for the Participants to establish a 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: June 9, 2014 - July 1, 2015

   Implementation Team Members:

   Jorge Armando Tuddón Meza, Head of the Protection and Legal Affairs Department

   Adriana Clarisa Casa Medina, Protection Services & Legal Affairs

   Yarazetd Mendoza-Camargo, Institute for Mexicans Abroad

   Isabel DeOliveira, OSHA Regional Compliance Assistance Specialist (CAS)

   Contributors:

   Carlos Giralt-Cabrales, Consul of Mexico Philadelphia

   MaryAnn Garrahan, OSHA Regional Administrator

   Dale Glacken, Compliance Assistance Specialist, OSHA Harrisburg Area Office

   Dalia Nichols, Compliance Officer, OSHA Wilmington Area Office

   Christopher Robinson, Area Director, OSHA Pittsburgh Area Office

   Carlos Enrique Torres Corona, Joint Head of the Protection and Legal Affairs Department

   Elizabeth Zimmer, USDOL Wage and Hour Division, Community Outreach and Resource Planning Specialist (CORPS)

2. Implementation Team Meetings

   First Implementation Team Meeting June 11, 2014: Mexican Consulate/Bourse Building: Implementation team discussed the goals for upcoming year including the scheduling of the Labor Rights week and BiNational Health Week Events.

   Second Implementation Team Meeting August 14, 2014: Implementation Team discussed continuing the monthly Consulate monthly talks (charlas) in the Consulate waiting area.

   Third Implementation Team Meeting March 12, 2015 Mexican Consulate/Bourse Building: Implementation team discussed the goals including resigning the Alliance, upcoming 2015 Labor Rights week and Bi-National events. OHSA shared Spanish publications for OSHA's National Falls Safety Stand down to Prevent Falls Campaign May 4- 12, 2015 to be shared and distributed with workers.

   Fourth Implementation Team Meeting June 1, 2015 - Implementation team discussed the Alliance document language, upcoming Labor Rights weeks 2015 and Bi-National Health Week.

3. Activities and Products

   Alliance Activity

   • Training and Education

     In August 2014, the Philadelphia Regional Office Compliance Assistance Specialist (CAS) participated in the Mexican Consulate of Philadelphia "Labor Rights Week" event. OSHA representative provided training for Mexican Nationals on Heat Stress and Workers Rights in small "Information Sessions" also known as charlas. The small speeches are repeated to the ever-changing small groups (10-15 people) as the Mexican Nationals wait for their documents.

     In October 2014, Participants promoted a local Fall Prevention in Residential Construction class held at the St. Martin of Tours Roman Catholic Church in English, Portuguese and Spanish. Consulate circulated the translated flyers and discussed the various classes.

     Participants decided that there were 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 training curricula will be focused on employee rights, filing complaints as well as defining the limitations of the two DOL agencies. Training held May 12, 2015.

   • 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. OSHA continues to provide representatives for the Consulate's "Mobile Consulates" on the weekend as this has been determined to be a successful means to engage the Mexican community concerning labor issues.

   In 2014/2015, OSHA participated in the following outreaches:

   Pittsburgh PA June 28, 2014 - OSHA reached 300 workers

   Dover, DE July 26, 2014 - OSHA reached 300 workers

   Gettysburg, PA August 9, 2014 - OSHA reached 1,000 workers

   Avondale/Kennett Square, PA August 23, 2014 - OSHA reached 300 workers

   Newark, DE November 8, 2014 - OSHA reached 300 workers

   Seaford, DE March 7, 2015 - OSHA reached 250 workers

   Chambersburg, PA March 28, 2014 - OSHA reached 200 workers

   Harrisburg, PA May 16, 2015 - OSHA reached 200 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.

   June, 2014 - 125 workers reached

   July, 2014 - 75 workers reached

   October, 2014 - 90 workers reached

   January, 2015 - 90 workers reached

   February, 2015 - 75 workers reached

   March, 2015 - 125 workers reached

   April, 2015 - 50 workers in attendance

   May, 2015 - 60 workers reached

   June, 2015 - 40 workers reached

   • Promoting the National Dialogue on Safety and Health

     In August, 2014, Alliance Participants conducted an outreach with the Consular Corps Association of Philadelphia President, The Honorable Krista Butvydas Bard. She is also the Honorary Consul of Lithuania. The Consular Corp represents over 30 countries. Due to conflicts in scheduling an in person meeting, OSHA sent over the workplace employee rights and employer responsibilities and compliance resource information to Consul Bard. The Corp provided a monthly email communique to all Consul Heads that included the OSHA information. As well as listing the OSHA workplace resources in the "Consuls Only resources list serve" on the webpage.

     Labor Rights Week 2014 Mexican Consulate National Labor Rights Week Events-OSHA Regional Compliance Assistant Special attended the Labor Rights Week "Kick Off" event at the Consulate. OSHA collaborated with Wage And Hour, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) during this year's Labor Rights Week. This year's theme: "We all have workplace rights" (Todos tenemos derechos en el trabajo). DOL representatives provided outreach that focused on increasing awareness and informing workers and employers about their rights and responsibilities under U.S. labor laws. OSHA answered questions about fall protection and personal protective equipment. - over 200 employees reached.

     Bi-National Health week 2014 OSHA participated in the 14th Annual Bi-National Health Week (Theme - Health is Movement. "Salud es movimento" Semana binational de salud) event sponsored by the Mexican Consulate in Philadelphia. During these various events, OSHA spoke with workers about OSHA's commitment to lowering the fatality rate for the Hispanic community and ensuring the health and safety of all workers. Also, OSHA was present for the signing of a Memo of Understanding between the Consulate of Peru of Passaic, New Jersey and the Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia for space sharing. OSHA also networked with the Consulate of Peru to further the reach of the agency's mission about employee workplace rights including the vulnerable immigrant works of Peru.

     In February, 2015 OSHA met with Pennsylvania Farmworker Project Philadelphia Legal Assistance to share Heat Illness Prevention Information. The PA Farmworker Project will be going out to farms over the upcoming farming season to verify compliance with Federal and state laws. They agreed to share some of the health illness prevention wallet cards and other publications to the migrant farmworker employers and housing units to make sure the workers' rights information is provided. This networking was only made possible by collaboration through the Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia. This outreach will have an impact of an estimated 150 workers.

     On March 9, 2015 - In support of the International Women's Day and the Alliance, OSHA presented information on working women's rights and all employer responsibilities. OSHA answered questions about the workplace hazards and staffing agency compliance requirement. There were an estimate 100 workers in attendance.

      

     On March 23, 2015 at the Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia - In support of the current Alliance, OSHA participated in a Community Leaders networking session and luncheon (Almuerzo con líderes y socios comunitarios). OSHA shared information on OSHA, workers' rights and upcoming national campaign outreach events. OSHA invited the newly appointed Wage and Hour's Philadelphia District Office Compliance Outreach Resource Person (CORPS) to further Labor rights awareness. This outreach will have an estimated impact of over 125 workers.

     On April 28, 2015, to commemorate Workers' Memorial Day, OSHA's Regional Office Compliance Assistance Coordinator visited the Consulate of Mexico to speak about the significance of the day, explain workers' rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and distribute OSHA outreach and educational resources in Spanish. There were an estimate 50 workers in attendance. Participants promoted OSHA's National Office Heat Illness and Fall Prevention Campaigns. 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.

      

     June 12, 2015: OSHA's Wilmington Area Office Spanish speaking Radio Interview - El Zol 107.9. Compliance Officer Nichols traveled to Washington, DC and discussed OSHA's Heat Illness Prevention Campaign; employee workplace rights; employer responsibilities; other resources available to employers/employees to include bilingual materials available on OSHA's website; and how to contact OSHA via the 800 number. The program reaches an audience of 200,000 (Mexican and other Latinos) Spanish language radio listeners in DE, MD, VA, and Washington DC. This outreach was featured in the July 1, 2015 QuickTakes newsletter: http://www.osha.gov/as/opa/quicktakes/qt070115.html

   Alliance Products

   There was an Alliance based Success Story developed during this evaluation time frame. The Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia signed April 15, 2011 heading, OSHA Region III Reaches Out to Immigrant Workers Through Alliance with Consulate of Mexico in Philadelphia (December 2014).

   Participants have consistently promoted and shared OSHA and DOL Spanish language resources including the monthly USDOL - Spanish newsletter distribution (Promoviendo la Seguridad en el Trabajo).

4. Results June 9, 2014 - July 1, 2015

   The Alliance had an effective forth 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
   Labor Rights Week Events (2)	250
   Fall Prevention in Residential Construction (English, Portuguese and Spanish)	15
   Fall Prevention in Residential Construction (English, Portuguese and Spanish)	15
   Consulate staff members Department of Labor OSHA (DOL) OSHA and Wage & Hour Division (WHD) "Get To Know the DOL- Worker's Rights Training Session"	10
   Mobile Consulates (8) *Compliance assistance weekend outreach activities	2,900
   Consulate Outreach - platicas (9)	730
   BiNational Health Week events (4)	430
   Media (radio, television) - Consulate periodically conducts radio broadcasts (DE, NJ, PA) where they promote US DOL worker rights	20,000
   USDOL - Spanish newsletter distribution (Promoviendo la Seguridad en el Trabajo)	1,000
   TOTAL:	25,335

5. Upcoming Milestones

   The Participants have agreed to sign a new Regional Alliance agreement during Labor Rights Week 2015, tentatively scheduled for September 1, 2015.

   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.