MAIN TAKEAWAY:
LaMP has been working with responsible recruiter, CIERTO, to ensure workers’ perspectives are incorporated in the work that we do, including how we define “responsible” recruitment. The team was able to listen to workers’ concerns, expectations and ideas on the H-2A program, how to improve it and increase access for others. This was also an opportunity to learn from CIERTO’s practices and community engagement.
LaMP TEAM REFLECTION:
Kim and Mel from the LaMP’s North America team traveled to Huahuaxtla, Puebla, and met with 30 workers who had and had not worked in the United States under the H-2A agricultural seasonal worker program previously. Transparent and comprehensive information was the number one priority for workers in the recruitment process, and in-person community engagement was considered the best way to establish trust between recruiters and workers. This trip also helped shape methodologies, questions and practices for gathering worker perspectives, so the exercise can continue to be replicated in other LaMP projects.
The LaMP team is synthesizing the learnings from this trip and working on a blog which will be posted later! To stay tuned for more details, don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter here and follow us on twitter!