Local employees at Mexican consulates in U.S denounced that the mass layoffs in the representations, this because the american government will not renew the type A-2 visa.
“Despite the fact that the Chancellor [Marcelo Ebrard] recognized the labor injustices to which we are subjected consular employees of Mexico in the United States and days after the end of the year, when many of us are on vacation or at home due to Covid-19, in some consulates they initiated the notifications of dismissal of employees ”, denounced the Committee of Local Employees.
Through a letter addressed to the president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, local employees accused that the cases of dismissal that have occurred have been justified by various reasons: expiration of the A-2 visa within the next three months, due to the non-renewal of said visa, budget cut and even by decision of the holder in the diplomatic representation.
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“It is evident that there is no general and equitable criterion. There is a contradictory discourse between the representations, of proportions and circumstances never seen before. Unfortunately, we are verifying that there are still authoritarian and illegal practices, that the Fourth transformation it cannot or does not want to eradicate, ”they said.
In the diplomatic missions of Mexico in the United States there are just over 1,700 local employees who have A-2 visa, which is granted to full-time workers of a foreign government, destined for an embassy or consulate. It is personnel who were not sent directly from Mexico, as they are hired directly at the place of assignment.
In 2015, US State Department announced that type A-2 visas would no longer be renewed. In the case of personnel who are not legal residents in that country or do not have citizenship and work with a type A-2 visa, they face the non-renewal of the document, which forces them to leave the country immediately. The vast majority terminate their contract in August 2021.
A spokesperson for this organization told THE UNIVERSAL that in recent days several dozen employees have been fired and that 500 more are emerging to lose their jobs.
Recently, Ebrard declared that the issue is already in dialogue with authorities of the State Department.
According to complaints from local employees, five years ago, when the United States warned about the non-renewal of type A-2 visa, they have been even more unprotected, since contracts, which are renewed every year, were cut to six months.
The only benefit they have is major medical insurance, which does not include any member of their families. Furthermore, they are not entitled to retirement.
“We, the consular employees, are also migrant workers and, despite the fact that our job is to safeguard the interests of our compatriots abroad, we are unprotected at work by the government itself, “said the employee committee.
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It was detailed that there are local employees with more than 10 years and up to 20 years of continuous work, who have been discharged and have to return to Mexico, but without any labor protection. “There were five years, two of this administration, in which the Mexican government did not pronounce on the regularization of our labor rights. The efforts of this committee were underestimated and ignored, and now with the situation exceeded by time and taking the note of the State Department and the pandemic as a pretext, the lack of will, commitment and loyalty towards an important part of the class is justified. Mexican worker, who proudly carry the name and image of our country very high throughout the United States ”, they indicated.
He Local Employees Committee He called for the attention of President López Obrador and Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to be able to find a solution for all those who are unprotected, especially for those who have already been fired and are about to lose their jobs.
“As the situation of vulnerability is accentuated by the pandemic, many of us do not have a place to return to, due to the lack of heritage, since we have been deprived of social security. In these difficult moments of pandemic, we are the only support for our families in Mexico, thus contributing to the sending of remittances.
“Ironically, our own country deport us and throws us into unemployment statistics”, they pointed out.