REORGANIZATION OF TEMPORARY TRANSNATIONAL WORK IN TIMES OF GOBAL PANDEMIC. THE IMPACT ON THE HEALTH OF MEXICAN WORKERS IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.973352326048

• Palavras-chave: COVID-19, Reorganization of temporary transnational work, Temporary workers, H-2A visas, PTAT.

• Keywords: COVID-19, Reorganization of temporary transnational work, Temporary workers, H-2A visas, PTAT.

• Abstract:

  The global pandemic of COVID-19 has upended a key pillar of global capitalism: the organization of work. This pandemic context made it necessary for the so-called “essential work” to require a theoretical and political debate. This article is developed from the argument that the public health crisis brought with it a labor crisis and an expansion of tensions between the reproduction of social life and the reproduction of labor exploitation relations. With this, not only is transnational labor tension transferred to the temporary employment market, but it also implies the reorganization of agricultural work in temporary programs (American and Canadian), reproducing class, gender, ethnicity, and generation inequalities in localities of origin and of settlement.and gender- The impacts of COVID-19 on the reorganization processes of temporary transnational work, its labor tensions and implications for the health of Mexican day laborers, men and women, who migrate to the United States and Canada. Using a mixed methodology, the multiple effects of COVID-19 on the experiences of male and female workers were examined. The statistics of the institutions of the three countries (Mexico, USA and Canada) were also analyzed to explore the sociodemographic profile of migrants. The results show that, between 2020 and 2022, precarious working and health conditions of migrants persisted. Their situation of structural vulnerability and the prevailing gender inequality was more evident. BesidesofThe potential risks of contracting coronavirus were high as workers were permanently exposed by living in overcrowded housing, crowded transportation to farm fields, not having sufficient handwashing facilities, and not having full social security.