BALTIMORE - "Human rights lawyering" is a new mission for Maryland Legal Aid, which has been selected as a project partner to explore ways to integrate human rights arguments and international law into the everyday cases handled by Legal Aid.

Chief Counsel Shawn Boehringer says basic human rights are at the root of most of their legal work.

"The three most important needs of our clients are affordable housing, access to health care, and jobs that pay a living wage. We created this human rights framework to try to address those issues."

Local staff will receive training and support to help them include human rights points in the cases they work on.

Project director Lauren Bartlett at American University says there are many international human rights conventions and treaties that have been approved by Congress and that could play a role in local court cases.

"A right to housing under the International Convention for Economic, Social, Cultural Rights. Or, talk about a right to housing might help a judge interpret state law."

Maryland Legal Aid was one of two partners selected nationwide for the Local Human Rights Lawyering Project. It's part of the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at American University Washington College of Law. The other partner is a legal aid bureau in southern Texas.


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As families across the country prepare to celebrate the holiday season, the joy of decorating a Christmas tree is a time-honored tradition.

But the story behind the trees is often overlooked, revealing a labor-intensive industry supported by immigrant workers who face difficult conditions to bring a holiday centerpiece into our homes.

Virginia ranks as one of the nation's top producers of Christmas trees, with thousands of workers tending to the trees year-round.

Manuel Gago Silcox, co-director of the Worker Justice Program at the Legal Aid Justice Center, said many workers are on H2A agricultural visas, traveling from Mexico and Central America for seasonal work.

"The conditions are, in the workplace, dangerous," Gago Silcox emphasized. "There's a lot of accidents because the tools they use are sometimes - like the area, like on the hills - they're moving like a big tree sometimes, so it's a lot of that."

Compounding the challenges is a systemic issue: Virginia's farmworkers are excluded from the state's minimum wage laws. In March, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed a bill which sought to extend minimum wage protections to farmworkers, a policy many view as a relic of the Jim Crow era. Youngkin argued the legislation was unnecessary.

Gago Silcox pointed out the dangers for migrant workers do not end in the field, as many workers are isolated in the hills, disconnected from their families for the months they arrive for temporary work and living in substandard housing.

"You need to share the kitchen with 10, 13 people and sometimes you don't even need to have a real bathroom," Gago Silcox observed. "You can use a portable toilet outside and that's OK for the regulations, so the housing conditions are very hard for the workers."

Gago Silcox hopes for future policy changes to ensure migrant farmworkers receive proper protections and fair wages. In the meantime, he encouraged consumers to make informed and intentional choices when selecting a Christmas tree.

He recommended researching tree farms and choosing smaller operations where you can observe their processes and learn how they treat their workers.

"Be thankful for the work that the farmworkers that came to this country, the sacrifice they have, not only for their families," Gago Silcox urged. "Because, at the end, those sacrifices end in having our Christmas tree in the living room this year."


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With winter underway, outdoor construction workers in North Dakota are likely wearing safety vests over their heavy coats and a new federal rule was announced to ensure gear fits all crew members, helping maintain diversity in this sector.

This week, a new OSHA rule was finalized with language requiring employers to provide personal protective equipment such as hard hats to properly fit each construction worker on a given site. It is aimed at accommodating unrepresented populations in this field, including women.

Jason Ehlert, president of North Dakota's Building Trades Unions, called it is a commonsense approach to letting women know their workplace needs are prioritized.

"We want them to experience these great career paths, but if the equipment doesn't fit them right, are we putting our money where our mouth is?" Ehlert explained.

According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 41% of women say their protective equipment fits them poorly. Supporters said the change could also benefit workers with disabilities or those with larger or much smaller body types. Federal officials said the move should not be an issue for employers worried about added costs in making the investments.

Ehlert noted the new rule coincides with efforts in North Dakota to diversify the construction trades, including an apprenticeship program geared for Native Americans.

Regardless of race, gender or body type, he said properly protecting all workers helps ensure they will not have to abandon their career due to injury.

"If we don't get the helmets fitting correctly, that could lead to other issues down the road," Ehlert outlined. "CTE, concussions, those kinds of things."

Federal officials noted properly fitting gear allows workers to carry out their tasks more confidently. The rule change is scheduled to go into effect in mid-January.


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The tragedy surrounding UnitedHealthcare has brought renewed focus on cost barriers within the health care system.

A group of Minnesota unions said a nonconfrontational but organized front paid off in recent talks to limit cost hikes for members.

This fall, unionized state workers in northwest Minnesota, who receive care through Essentia, were notified the provider would increase out-of-pocket expenses Jan. 1. In a tiered system, they would move from Level Two to Level Three.

Amanda Stegmaier, information technologist at Minnesota State University-Moorhead, said she was caught off guard, noting the change could have boosted co-pays by roughly $30 per visit.

"I was personally looking at supplemental health insurance," Stegmaier explained. "What could I do to stay at a lower cost level, because being a single mom and one-income household, there's only so much money that goes around."

Stegmaier, a member of the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, urged colleagues to contact Essentia about the situation. Regional members of other unions like the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees did too, and the coalition convinced the provider to keep the cost hike temporary. It goes back to Level Two March 1. Stegmaier acknowledged the issue will likely resurface a year from now but a strong unified message can have an effect.

State employees have the benefit of union negotiators but those involved said voices working together, no matter where their insurance comes from, and can reasonably articulate the plight of health consumers might be able to turn some heads.

Adam Kamp, business agent for the Minnesota Association of Professional Employees, feels it is a key strategy in the current landscape.

"Health care's becoming increasingly corporate, we're seeing more mergers, more buyouts," Kamp observed. "In that instance, it took peaceful, collective action in order to pressure the provider to do the right thing."

Stegmaier stressed keeping costs in check is important in her part of the state, because it allows members to keep going to the clinics that work best for them.

"Good health care in this area is hard to come by," Stegmaier emphasized. "When you find your care team that you're happy with, you wanna stick with them."