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January 19, 2006
Guest Workers: What To Do?
I suspect this is going to cause a big hoo-hah in labor so let's have a discussion here, too. Two large unions, SEIU and the Laborers, have joined with the Chamber of Commerce to push for an immigration bill that would "legalize millions of illegal workers," as reported today in The New York Times.
One of the most contentious parts of a possible bill is a guest worker program, which would allow many thousands of people to work in the U.S. as temporary workers. Interestingly, SEIU and the Laborers don't agree on that piece of the program: SEIU support a guest worker program, the Laborers opposed it.
And even more interesting will be a split on the issue that may pit SEIU and other unions versus the AFL-CIO, which opposes a guest workers program. The Times article quotes an AFL-CIO lawyer: "We're turning permanent jobs into jobs that are temporary, staffed by temporary workers. It's really troubling that any labor union is just sitting back and conceding that this is something that needs to happen."
Personally, I think the Drum Major Institute has put forth a helpful set of principles to guide the discussion. My gut instinct says: we have to push for laws that protect workers, period, no matter what their status is.
So, what do you think?
January 19, 2006 in Labor | Permalink
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Comments
The more transparency required with the undocumented worker situation the better it will get for everyone. This will limit the ability of corporations to turn 12 dollar an hour jobs into 2 dollars an hour on domestic soil.
Posted by: patience | Jan 19, 2006 1:01:23 PM
Thanks for posting on this.
What's with a coalition that can't agree on what they're a coalition for? Maybe someone can clear something up for me - the Laborer's don't want a guest worker program, but the Chamber and SEIU do. Does anyone know any of the inside baseball on this?
Posted by: Brennan | Jan 19, 2006 1:04:49 PM
How is this different from the McCain-Kennedy bill that's been on the table for a while now, and which has been pushed from the beginning by the New American Opportunity Campaign, which grew out of the Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride?
Posted by: submarino | Jan 19, 2006 2:53:47 PM
We think McCain-Kennedy is a start but it doesn't have sufficient labor protections in it.
In fact, read our critique of their bill at the very end of our report.
http://www.drummajorinstitute.org/pdfs/Immigration_final2.pdf
Posted by: ElanaDMI | Jan 19, 2006 4:54:45 PM
So is this where the disagreement within the coalition is coming from? Whether the Kennedy-McCain bill goes far enough?
Posted by: Brennan | Jan 19, 2006 5:17:43 PM
I misunderstood your question. sorry. You're looking for info on why the unions are taking these different stances. Can't help on that one.
I guess I'm just so eager to talk about the DMI paper that I assumed you were asking us to compare our "Middle Class Test" to the McCain-Kennedy Bill.
Posted by: ElanaDMI | Jan 19, 2006 6:11:36 PM
I think the AFL is right (not words that come out of my mouth often) in that a guest worker program sets up some really bad stuff. If the guest worker program is expansive and has paths to citizenship, then it would be good. But a guest worker program with no citizenship path will set up the same kind of second-class resident status that Turks in Germany, for instance, get.
Now, its probably worth fighting for Kennedy-McCain in the hopes of adding a citizenship track later. And some sort of rationalization is better than what we have now. I just think in the long run that a guest worker program without a citizenship path is corrosive to a democracy.
I would be all right with total amnesty and a very open border, as long as we can track who comes in and who leaves, and when they did it. Probably fingerprinting, to make sure we can keep out legitimate security threats.
This is pure personal opinion - not that of ACORN, which I work for.
Posted by: Brennan | Jan 19, 2006 6:33:53 PM
Isn't a "path to citizenship" the centerpiece of McCain-Kennedy?
Posted by: submarino | Jan 19, 2006 8:41:08 PM
When McCain-Kennedy first came out, it did, in fact, have a "path to citizenship" piece. From what I read in the NYT article, it sounds as if that piece might have been changed to a guest worker provision. The AFL-CIO initially supported McCain-Kennedy but, again based on the NYT article, it sounds as if it no longer does. There were several proposals floating around, several of which were guest worker oriented. Sounds as if there is a move afoot to come up with a compromise proposal. Just a guess.....
Posted by: D Flinchum | Jan 20, 2006 7:49:44 AM
The RNC apparently met in the last couple of days and endorsed a guest worker proposal. Looks as if that's what will be being pushed in Congress in the next few days or weeks. It's kind of unclear about illegal immigrants already in the US but they may be eligible for eventual permanent status.
Posted by: D Flinchum | Jan 22, 2006 8:03:32 AM
I don't buy this guest worker program for one second. We already have a set of immigration laws. Let's try enforcing them for a change. We don't have to round up all the illegal immigrants just arrest and jail each individual who is hiring them . Anyone who has followed the labor movement as I have would realize immediately that more people chasing fewer jobs will depress the wages paid for those jobs. The corporations have moved to non-union states for cheaper labor and now to Mexico and China for even cheaper labor. To add insult to injury the so-called free traders pass trade deals that allow these companies to avoid paying tariffs on the goods they now import. Through the hiring of illegals and the legal H1B program they have concocted one more way to push down wages.
Posted by: smokie | Jan 22, 2006 1:25:49 PM
The unions that support Kennedy-McCain just gave away their chips before the game started. Congress under Republican leadership is going to bargain down from Kennedy-McCain as they shape their "guest-worker" (imported bracero) program. Agree with Brennan above, these "reforms" start us on the path of having a de jure lower class resident population with no rights. We have such a class now, the 10 million "illegals," but not yet affirmative law that makes them helpless to enforce any labor standards. This thing is going in the direction of creating a class barred by law from labor rights.
Damned if I know why any part of labor would sign off on this before the fight was joined.
Posted by: janinsanfran | Jan 24, 2006 3:39:20 AM
"Congress under Republican leadership is going to bargain down from Kennedy-McCain"
JanInSanFran, I made this point months ago when McCain-Kennedy first came out and the AFL-CIO was reported to be endorsing it. I even emailed Bob Welsh to express my dismay though I doubt that Bob himself ever saw the email. As it stands right now, this is not a worker-friendly bill and it will likely get worse, not better, in that respect.
I assumed that the AFL-CIO had hoped to make it more worker-friendly. Both houses of Congress are in GOP control by comfortable margins. They are going to pass a "cheap labor" law that is good for business. They don't give a damn about workers in the US or anywhere else, just the bottom line. They are not going to pass any law that that will make it easier for unions to organize these workers.
What is likely to happen now is that business interests will shout to the high heavens that "labor" endorsed this bill so if business and labor both like it, it must be a good thing.
Posted by: D Flinchum | Jan 24, 2006 9:21:16 AM
everyone in one way or other concerned about the guest worker program. if you live in major cities like new york or LA, you will realize how important an illegals are. if you own a business then you know how hard it is to get people working in their company. i myself am an immigrant.and if you look into america , it is full of immigrants. who are real americans?? if look into the history, you will see what kind of people makes america.
i read a lot of blogs about people against illegal immigrants. i live in new york, i can see how many illegals are working in here, they they stop working then the whole economy of america is gonna fall down. every body knows there are 100K plus illegals in here, if they let them apply for guest worker and penalize them for 1000$ each for their overstay which means the govt will have for 1000 illegals $1000000, on top of that they will be forced to pay taxes which means govt will be getting paid millions more. and there are so much things the govt can do with the money collected from these people. so i really dont see a reason why the govt doesnt take any measure on reforming the illegals immigrants and making that money, instead of arguing about it.
lets say if the govt decides to take all the illegals out of the country, u think the economy will stay the same, u think the life that you are living right now will be the same.
if the guest worker doesnt do well with the illegals then they should bring some thing new, give them freedom to work and they will definately help country's economy.
when i visited asian countries, i saw in people what they think of america. they think coming to USA is like reaching the moon. they are so eager to get out of their country cause they dont have enough to make it in their own country. i wish this view will change but its not a fact as they have their own problems. of course if they all stay at their country and try to do better , things wil change but we know this is not gonna happen soon. so what do they see in america? they see land of freedom(which they dont get much in their hometown) they know if they work hard in here, they get fair pay. they know what to expect for their hard labor. and american should be proud that people thinks like this. they must be proud to think that i am lucky to be here, as people waste their lifelong savings just to get inside this country for a better life.
i know many of you who are reading this must be thinking this guy doesnt know what he is talking about, but its something everyone should consider and think about..........
Posted by: travis | Feb 10, 2006 12:14:40 PM
Sir,
Is this immigration bill helpfull for H1B visa holders?Because they are already working legally instead of those who are illegal and demanding for emnesty.
Thanks
Posted by: Muhammad Zaheer uddin | May 31, 2006 12:54:47 AM
