BTN News Current News Building Trades Members Help Defeat Controversial Immigration Reform Bill
| Building Trades Members Help Defeat Controversial Immigration Reform Bill |
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Phone Calling, Faxing Campaign Helped Kill Guest Worker Legislation The controversial immigration reform bill that was opposed by Building Trades craft unions was killed in the Senate in June after the measure fell 14 votes short of the 60 needed to limit debate and bring the bill to a vote on the Senate floor. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) removed the bill from further consideration - effectively killing the bill for the remainder of the year. The defeat of the immigration bill is seen as a major victory for Building Trades Craft unions who opposed the bill because it contained provisions for “guest worker” programs that would allow unscrupulous contractors to bring in crews of temporary low-paid construction workers from other countries and drive down the wages and benefits that Building Trades unions have fought decades to achieve. “This is a great victory for our industry, our unions and, most importantly, our members and their families,” said Sean McGarvey, Secretary Treasurer of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO.“It is now common practice for large contractors who do business throughout the world to move construction workers from the Philippines, Pakistan and eastern European countries around the globe like indentured servants,” said Bob Balgenorth, President of the State Building and Construction Trades Council. “If this immigration bill [became] law, these international contractors already were planning to use the new guest worker program to drive down the wages and benefit standards for construction workers that we have fought so hard for.” The bill would have driven down wages, not only for skilled construction workers, but would have reduced the living standard for all working Americans, Balgenorth said. Building Trades President Ed Sullivan applauded the immigration bills demise stating, “We are pleased that the United States Senate finally recognized that this was a fatally flawed package of reforms that failed to serve the interests of American workers.” Building Trades craft unions mounted a massive phone, fax and letter campaign in opposition to the bills. Several Senate phone systems crashed from the volume of calls from people calling in to comment on the legislation. “Our members have been as engaged on this issue as any I have seen in my lifetime,” said Sullivan. “They knew right away that this approach to immigration reform completely ignored their circumstances and their interests and it made that made them extremely angry.” The 1990s witnessed the largest influx of immigrants during any period in American history. Immigrants make up about 15% of the US civilian labor force and 20% of low-wage workers nationwide, though that figured is higher in Southern California. With growing public pressure, lawmakers are being forced to reform the existing immigration system that has left millions of undocumented workers vulnerable to exploitation and without adequate health safety and wage regulations. There is consensus that something must be done to address the immigration issue, but lawmakers and the American public are divided as to precisely what must be done. However, Craft International Unions and their Building and Construction Councils have crafted their own immigration reform plan that calls for strong border security measures, an employment eligibility and mandatory electronic work-eligibility verification system, and effective employer sanctions and increased penalties for those who knowingly hire undocumented workers. The Craft’s immigration policy expressly opposes the creation of any guest worker program that would allow the importing of cheap, foreign labor instead of investing in the recruitment and training of new US workers. |
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