In an effort to establish outreach programs designed to inform immigrants of their rights regarding U.S.-related labor organizing, the federal government has signed agreements with Mexico, Ecuador, and the Philippines.

The agreements, which do not distinguish between immigrants that entered the U.S. legally or illegally, are part of an attempt initiated by the National Labor Relations Board to get immigrants involved in union activism.

The National Labor Relations Board, a five-member board, enforces the National Labor Relations Act, which is the main federal law covering unions.

In 2013 the board's general counsel Lafe Solomon signed a "memorandum of understanding" with Mexico's U.S. ambassador.

Last year, Richard Griffin, the current general counsel, signed agreements with the ambassadors of Ecuador and the Philippines.

As reported in the Washington Examiner, all three of the documents state that the first priority of the outreach is "to educate those who may not be aware of the Act.”

The board has stated that the law's protections for employees engaged in union organizing extends to workers who are not legally authorized to work in the U.S. For instance, an employer who fires an illegal immigrant worker can in fact be sanctioned by the board if it is believed that the worker's union activism was the reason for the firing.

Furthermore, the documents call for systems to inform foreign businesses operating in the U.S. of their duties to their employees under federal labor law.

Griffin, in a testimony before the House Appropriations Committee on March 24, described the principal focus of the agreements, saying: "We have executed letters of agreement with foreign ministries designed to strengthen collaborative efforts to provide foreign business owners doing business in the United States, as well as workers from those countries, with education, guidance and access to information regarding their rights and responsibilities under our statute."