Picked Apart: The Hidden Struggles of Migrant Worker Women in the Maryland Crab Industry

“By obtaining first-hand accounts from the workers, the report documented the forces and conditions that gave rise to this specific population’s decision to migrate; the processes and challenges involved in the recruitment process, and in obtaining documentation to travel to the U.S.; and the experience of living in Maryland and working in the crab industry. The research underlying this report revealed numerous challenges that migrant worker women face throughout the migration experience. Many of these challenges were linked to fundamental flaws with the H-2B program” (p.1). (Abstractor: Author)

The authors make the following recommendations: • “Extend Maryland minimum wage and overtime protections to crab pickers and other seafood workers” (p.3). • “Implement comprehensive, bilingual occupational health and safety trainings for new and returning H-2B crab workers” (p.3). • “Deploy bilingual health care outreach workers to the Eastern Shore to assess work-related injuries or other health concerns of H-2B migrant workers” (p.3). • “Educate H-2B crab workers at the beginning of each season about their basic rights as tenants in the state of Maryland” (p.3). • “Regulate recruitment practices, and sanction employers who utilize recruiters that charge excessive and improper fees to workers” (p.3). • “Reform guest worker visas so that workers are not tied to one employer, which will allow workers to leave abusive working conditions and still benefit from employment in the United States” (p.3). • “Urge the U.S. government to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their Families” (p.3). (Abstractor: Author)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2010
• Author(s): No individuals authors identified.
• Organizational Author(s): IHRLC, Washington College of Law, American Univ.; Centro De Los Derechos Del Migrante, Inc.
• Funding Source: Ford Foundation, General Service Foundation, New World Foundation, Public Welfare Foundation, Skadden Fellowship Foundation, Solidarity Center, University of Chicago
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies