By: Helene Saadoun / Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

The protection of migrant workers by companies who employ them or benefit from them through their supply chain labour is not only essential but also feasible. 

Migrant workers from Latin America are pivotal to economic development in both their home countries, where they send back millions of dollars in remittances each year – close to 154,511 million US dollars in 2023,¹ and in their countries of destination – particularly Canada and the USA – where their substantial contribution to sectors as diverse as construction, agriculture, transportation, and hospitality. 

While labour migration brings economic, social, and cultural benefits to individuals, families and whole communities, migrant workers also face persistent risks of unfair recruitment, labour exploitation and human rights abuses by unscrupulous employers, especially those from historically discriminated groups such as women and indigenous people. 

Since 2022, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) has been monitoring and tracking allegations of abuse perpetuated by companies against migrant workers in supply chains worldwide. Our database rests on publicly reported allegations around the world – the scope and scale of abuse tracked is immense, but represents just the tip of a much larger iceberg, providing a snapshot of the vulnerability migrant workers face daily (read more about our methodology here).  

Between January 1, 2022 and May 31, 2024, we tracked 138 cases of abuse against Latin American workers. The countries where most cases occurred are the United States of America and Canada, with 81 and 28 cases respectively, while the companies linked to the abuse through their supply chains were most frequently also headquartered in the USA, as well as the UK, Canada and Germany. 

By contrast, the migrant workers themselves were most frequently originally from Mexico (56 cases), Guatemala (22), Jamaica (19), Nicaragua (10), and Venezuela (10). There were fewer cases involving workers from Peru (8), Brazil (8), and Colombia (5). 

Most of the risks for Latin American migrants are related to the health and safety of workers (62 cases), including exposure to hazardous heat levels and pesticides, long working hours (44), wage theft (44) and acts of intimidation (43) in the workplace. The dataset also includes cases of precarious, poor and inhumane living conditions (31), and lack of access to remediation mechanisms (24), with workers reporting that they are unable to speak up 

Workers reported illness and injuries related to their work in 17 cases, and heat exposure in 16 cases. This last is of particular concern for workers in outdoor jobs such as construction, delivery and farming as the climate crisis makes outdoor employment increasingly dangerous. In the most egregious instances, we tracked 16 cases related to deaths of migrant workers either in the workplace or in their accommodation.  

Overwhelmingly, the data reveals the agriculture sector as the riskiest, accounting for 70% of cases impacting Latin American workers, who are integral to temporary and seasonal labour schemes in both the USA and Canada. Recent reports have revealed how systemic and wide-ranging abuse is for workers on these schemes. have revealed how systemic and wide-ranging abuse is for workers on these schemes.  

The agribusiness sector is particularly susceptible to human rights violations. This is mainly due to the intensive nature of crop cultivation, which often involves low-skilled manual labor. Workers often come from marginalized sectors, with an overrepresentation of migrant populations, which exacerbates their vulnerability to various forms of human rights abuses. Weak law enforcement and accountability throughout the supply chain exacerbates these underlying problems, perpetuating a cycle of exploitation and inequality in the agribusiness sector. 

One tracked case is emblematic of the exploitation of Mexican workers under the H-2A visa scheme who were subjected to slavery-like conditions while harvesting watermelons from 2015 to 2017. The case led to the conviction of the business owner and others involved for violations of US slavery laws.  

The workers were asked to pay recruitment fees and were then manipulated and coerced into continuing work to repay their debt. They were relocated to unauthorized farms and threatened with deportation or arrest if they tried to leave or escape.  

Another case involves the death allegedly from heat stress of a Mexican farmworker in the United States. According to an official investigation by the US Department of Labor, the death was preventable had the farm labor contractor implemented safety practices regarding heat-related hazards.  

These cases are just the tip of the iceberg. This database aims to provide initial insight into the labor rights risks faced by migrant workers responding to the need for more information and transparency in global supply chains. 

This database provides a useful tool to supports the efforts promoted by the Periplo Community, in which the BHRRC participates, aimed at encouraging companies to comply with their human rights responsibilities, thereby impacting significantly the lives of migrant workers.   

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¹Latin America and the Caribbean.