LABOR

SOME SEE IMMIGRANT RAIDS PART OF RIGHTWING ATTACK ON LABOR UNIONS

AMY TAYLOR, DRUM MAJOR INSTITUTE - Is there another agenda behind the
recent surge in workplace raids? Some commentators argue that in
addition to a pre-holiday show of force on the issue of illegal
immigration, the raids are part of a larger conservative agenda aimed at
creating a climate of fear to undermine union organizing efforts.

Union membership is at an all time low at 12.5%, and not because workers
are uninterested in joining them. Union members and potential members
face real challenges to organizing in the workplace. A recent
commentator cites a "long-standing conservative political objective to
eradicate unions" which has led to 30% of employers terminating
pro-union workers when faced with an organizing drive. Even more
employers will threaten to close a worksite or attempt to use bribery
and favoritism to convince workers to oppose the unions. Furthermore,
the governmental agency charged with addressing unfair labor practices
is the supposedly independent National Labor Relations Board,
notoriously bureaucratic and run by anti-union presidential appointees.
Suffice it to say that it is no coincidence that union membership is
down. And as membership levels have gone down, wages have stagnated and
employee benefits have been slashed across entire industries.

The reasons for such anti-union fervor are obvious. Union members had
wage increases that were double the rate of non-union members in 2005.
Employers work hard to keep union membership down to save their own
costs.

This is where immigrant workers come in. The great organizing power of
immigrant communities have often been viewed as fringe movements and
placed outside of the progressive agenda. This has been viewed as a
great failure of the progressive movement. In order for working
Americans to protect their livelihood, they must join hands with the new
face of workers in the U.S., and that includes immigrant workers.

Unions are, for the most part, already on board and have been outspoken
supporters of legislation creating a pathway to legalization for
undocumented workers. Union leaders understand the connection between
immigration reform and the future of organized labor -- if immigrants
did not face daily threats from their employers because of their
immigration status, they would be more likely to join the ranks of
organized labor fearlessly. . .

If immigrant workers are threatened underground even more than they
already are through the use of scare tactics such as workplace raids, it
will not only be their families who have less in the bank at the end of
the year. The power of organized labor will continue to decline if
unions cannot join hands with immigrant workers to fight for a living
wage and better working conditions.

http://www.dmiblog.com/

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