I hope that's not the case, but ya can't but sense that sometimes...
In any event, opposing immigrants, regardless of sector, these days, is about as realistic a union strategy as opposing women or blacks because they take 'our' jobs....
I found the story Bill Fletcher told in his interview with David Bacon (who should get a Pulitzer for his reporting by the way) about how General DYnamics when faced with a strike in the late 70's paraded Black scabs in front of the workers and snuck the white ones around back. I sometimes wonder what would a Lehman so when confronted with such a strategy? The workers and union (at that time, quite different from most cases now I believe) chose to point the finger at Blacks for breaking the strke...falling right into the divide and conquer strategy of management.
Now, we have record numbers of immigrant workers. lehman's solution? Send'em back. To which a realist can only say, wishful thinking.
Steve
Stephen Philion Lecturer/PhD Candidate Department of Sociology 2424 Maile Way Social Sciences Bldg. # 247 Honolulu, HI 96822
On Thu, 9 Mar 2000, Chris Kromm wrote:
> Yes, it is -- Tom's distaste for Latinos has been evidenced several times.
> Nobody really calls him to the mat on it though.
> CK
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Liza Featherstone <lfeather32 at erols.com>
> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com>
> Sent: Thursday, March 09, 2000 12:14 PM
> Subject: Re: UNITE Negotiates Seniority for Illegals (even after
> deportation)
>
>
> > Is it just me, or is this kind of a racial slur? Not the factoid, which is
> > kind of interesting, but the commentary
> >
> > sorry if this sounds schoolmistressy,
> >
> > Liza
> >
> >
> > ----------
> > >From: Tom Lehman <uswa12 at Lorainccc.edu>
> > >To: lbo-talk at lists.panix.com
> > >Subject: Re: UNITE Negotiates Seniority for Illegals (even after
> deportation)
> > >Date: Thu, Mar 9, 2000, 8:48 AM
> > >
> >
> > >I came across an interesting little factoid. The population of El
> Salvador,
> > >during the Marxist insurrection of the 1980's in El Salvador, doubled.
> The
> > >population doubled!
> > >
> > >Sounds like they are having a fuckin' good time down there in Latino
> America.
> > >:o)
> > >
> > >Maybe Brad should re-vise his stats.
> > >
> > >Tom Lehman
> > >
> > >Nathan Newman wrote:
> > >
> > >> >From today's NYT, a really progressive approach to undocumented
> workers,
> > >> actually putting protections in the union contract.
> > >>
> > >> March 9, 2000
> > >> I.N.S. Looks the Other Way on Illegal Immigrant Labor
> > >> NY TIMES
> > >>
> > >> The commercial laundry industry in Chicago, where Mr. Silva works,
> clearly
> > >> benefits from the Immigration Service's live-and-let-work approach.
> Thirty
> > >> companies wash and iron the city's hospital and restaurant linens,
> hotel
> > >> sheets and towels, and factory uniforms. Half of their 2,800 employees
> are
> > >> illegal immigrants, mainly Hispanics, according to Unite, the union
> that has
> > >> organized most of them in recent months.
> > >>
> > >> Last fall, Unite negotiated contracts that recognized the illegal
> status of
> > >> some workers, and shielded them. One clause requires an employer to bar
> an
> > >> I.N.S. raid unless the agents have a search warrant. And a company must
> > >> notify the union if it gets wind of a coming raid.
> > >>
> > >> "Sometimes I did not want to go to work," Mr. Silva said. "I saw
> reports on
> > >> TV of immigration raids and people being led away and I worried that
> would
> > >> happen to me. Now the union contract is reassuring, and I no longer see
> > >> raids on television."
> > >>
> > >> A third clause states that when former employees are rehired with new
> > >> papers -- even new names -- after their original documents are found to
> be
> > >> false, they retain their seniority and resume their old pay level.
> > >>
> > >> Union scale goes as high as $8.75 an hour.
> > >
>
>