ImmigrationLabor unions join campaign for immigration reform

The immigration reform debate continues to grab the headlines, and labor unions are now entering the ring,  hoping that organizing immigrant workers can boost the unions’ shrinking ranks.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) plans on spending millions of dollars on advertising, rallies, and other campaigning  in support of an immigration law overhaul. AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka and other labor leaders will join executives from Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs, and other companies in a meeting with President Barack Obama  to promote  immigration reform.

For labor union leaders, legalized  workers joining unions across the country could secure the future of the labor movement amid public-sector budget constraints and a trend toward weakening collective-bargaining rights. The percentage of  U.S. workers who are members of unions has been cut by nearly half of what it was thirty years ago, and now stands at 11.3 percent of the work force.

The Journal notes that nearly 75 percent of the nation’s eleven million illegal immigrants are active in the labor force. Labor experts say that  tens of thousands of them already belong to unions. The government does not track the number of undocumented workers whot belong to labor unions, and many get jobs using false Social Security numbers, as unions do not ask workers about their status in the country.

According to Ana Avendano, head of the AFL-CIO’s immigration and community action program, many undocumented workers avoid joining unions  “because they are under constant threat of deportation.”

It remains to be seen whether a bill overhauling U.S. immigration law can be passed, but some labor unions are making it their mission to make sure immigrants have a path to citizenship.

Many politicians and unions, however, worry that  a boost in the number of workers from outside the United States could depress wages and take jobs away from Americans.

One of the main reasons  union membership has declined over the years is that many jobs that formed the large contingent of unions in the United States have been outsourced overseas.

According to SEIU secretary-treasurer Eliseo Medina, the passage of immigration legislation is the unions’ top priority, because gaining legal status “would make it much easier for these workers to join together and improve their working conditions by joining a union.”

Almost a quarter of the SEIU’s members are Hispanic, most of which are legal residents or U.S. citizens. The SEIU has hit the ground running organizing immigrants in Houston, Los Angeles, and other cities promising better wages, paid sick days, and vacation time.

The Journal reports that almost five years ago, the SEIU, along with local community groups, began improving worker conditions for car washers in Los Angeles. These  were mostly immigrants who were sometimes paid less than the hourly minimum wage, and largely relying on tips.

The campaign has pushed for car washes around the city to sign agreements that guarantee minimum wage, ensure worker safety, and given meal breaks. So far three car washes have signed the agreement and their employees are now members of the local Unites Steelworkers Union.