AFL-CIO and Change-to-Win Remain Split Over Guest Workers and Immigration Bill
By Harry Kelber
While the AFL-CIO has rejected the inclusion of a guest worker program in the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill that "by their very nature harm the interests of foreign- and U.S.-born workers alike," the Change-to-Win coalition supports the guest-worker program in the bill, although it says it will strive to add a series of needed protections for temporary immigrant workers.
AFL-CIO's executive vice president, Linda Chavez-Thompson says that workers in these guest programs "are always dependent on their host employers for both their livelihoods and legal status to work in the United States. Guest workers are never truly free, rendering them ripe for exploitation."
Eliseo Medina, vice president of the Service Employees Union, says that supporting the McCain-Kennedy bill, including its guest worker provision, gives his union an opportunity to be part of the debate in Congress. "You can't just simply get into that debate by saying nothing out there meets our expectations."
The basic argument for a guest-worker program is that these immigrants are needed to take jobs and do work that most Americans refuse to do. But that¹s primarily because too many of those jobs pay poverty-level wages, no benefits and allow intolerable working conditions. If those jobs paid an attractive wage and health insurance and a safe workplace, there'd be plenty of our people, especially among the unemployed, who would be flocking to fill them. It's worth noting that most low-level jobs are still held by native-born Americans.
Illegal immigrants have been significantly integrated into our economy, and now account for 4.9 percent of the nation's labor force. They represent 17 percent in the cleaning industries, 14 percent in construction, 12 percent in food preparation, 9 percent in manufacturing, and 7 percent in transportation.
What About the 11 Million Undocumented Workers?
Both labor organizations oppose the criminalization of illegal immigrants and the erection of a 700-mile barrier along the U.S.-Mexican border. But there are differences of opinion about what to do about the 11 million undocumented workers who have been living in the United States and raising families for years, holding down jobs, paying taxes and becoming an integral part of their communities. They are also consumers of goods and services and the jobs that their purchasing power produces.
In some way, the easiest solution could be to confer legal status on them, from a certain date, and proclaim a path toward citizenship, not different from those that are currently in operation for all applicants. This would avoid the charge that the U.S. has a two-tier population, with some people enjoying democratic rights, while others are denied them.
But that would be "amnesty," a term that has been so demonized that any mention of the "A" word is enough to kill any immigration proposal from serious consideration. Yet, it is lunacy to even consider deporting those millions of undocumented workers or treating as criminals those who may have aided and abetted them. The chaos it would cause is unimaginable, and it would guarantee that our economy would crash.
But it appears that a majority of the public want them punished for their illegal behavior. The Senate bill requires the illegal immigrants to pay heavy fines, catch up on their back taxes, undergo background checks and go to the back of the line to gain permanent status and get on the path to citizenship. During this waiting period, which may take many years, the individuals will be able to work legally.
It is not at all clear how many of the 11 million undocumented workers will adopt this path to legal status. But what do we do with those who refuse to comply and continue to work in the shadows?
Our weekly "LaborTalk" and "World of Labor" columns can be viewed at our Web site: www.laboreducator.org. Harry Kelber's e-mail address is: hkelber at igc.org.
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