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Unions Should Protect Their Members, Not Illegal Aliens
Guest Column | By Mike Cutler | September 2, 2008
In the wake of Labor Day,
perhaps it’s important to consider the relationship between illegal immigration
and labor.
There is a Yiddish word –
chutzpah - that describes the tactics of the management of Agriprocessors, the
company whose Iowa
plant was raided several months ago by special agents of ICE (Immigration and
Customs Enforcement). The original example of chutzpah was the kid who kills
both parents and then pleads for mercy in court on the basis of being an
orphan. I believe that Agriprocessors’ management has demonstrated an even
greater example of chutzpah!
The management of
Agriprocessors is now attempting to block the unionizing of its workforce in
court. They want to use the legal system to continue to exploit illegal aliens
and, according to this
article in the New York Times, hired day laborer illegal aliens to
replace aliens they fired who had sought to join a union. What is incredible is
that the basis for filing a suit in court to block its workers from joining a
union is the fact that they are illegal aliens who should not be working in the
United States
in the first place!
This lawsuit has now made its
way to the Supreme Court and, depending on how the justices of the Supreme
Court rule, this case may have major ramifications for employers and employees
around the entire country.
What is disgusting is that
there are unions that do not look out for the best interests of its members but
apparently take the union dues of those workers who join and then act in the
best interests of the employer who hired those workers. This outrageous
situation is alleged in this statement from the article:
The company, the labor board
asserted, improperly fired two workers for supporting the union. Moreover, the
board said, management sought to block the workers from voting for the United
Food and Commercial Workers, by announcing one day that a majority of its
drivers had signed up with a union known for working closely with employers,
Local 17-18 of the United Production Workers.
This brings us back to
the issue of the way that illegal aliens are exploited by unscrupulous
employers. As I have noted on so many previous occasions, the immigration issue
is not simply a "conservative" issue, it is an issue that should be
of great concern to Americans of all political persuasions. I am a lifelong
registered Democrat as were my parents. My dad was a member of the
Plumbers' Union in Brooklyn. While far from
perfect, unions can help level the playing field to help prevent abusive
practices by unscrupulous employers. However, as the saying goes, "power
corrupts." Unions need to conduct themselves in a fashion that is
consistent with the best interests of their members.
Shortly after the terrorist
attacks of September 11, 2001, I went to Annapolis,
Maryland to provide testimony before the Maryland legislature to
address the issue of driver's licenses and illegal aliens. I am adamantly
opposed to providing illegal aliens with driver's licenses for a number of
reasons, the first of which is national security. If you are unable to provide
reliable identification to attest to your true identity and you succeed in
obtaining a driver's license under a false name, you can use that driver's
license as a "breeder document" to obtain all sorts of other
officially issued identity documents to create a brand new identity for
yourself. This tactic has been used effectively by countless criminals and, in
fact, was used by the terrorists who attacked our nation on September 11, 2001.
Driver's licenses also make
it easy for those who possess one to gain access to airports, federal and state
office buildings as well as corporate buildings. By being able to legally
drive, he who has a driver's license is able to easily move around the country
without being traced. Driving a car and paying tolls and other expenses with
cash, he can travel in a stealthy fashion.
Driver's licenses can also be
used to secure employment and can also enable its bearers to vote because of
the so-called "Motor Voter Laws."
Now you might understand why
I’m against driver’s licenses for illegal aliens!
I was also shocked to find
that there were some high-priced attorneys representing illegal aliens on the
issue of driver's licenses and on another issue relating to immigration that
was being considered by that legislative body: the proposal that Maryland State
Police would work cooperatively with ICE to identify illegal aliens who were
encountered by police officers during their routine duties.
It wasn’t so much that the
illegal aliens had legal representation - what shocked me was that from what I
heard stated by those attorneys is that they had been retained by the AFL-CIO!
Unions are supposed to
represent the best interests of their members. What makes illegal aliens so
valuable to unscrupulous employers is the fact that they are easy to exploit
and abuse because they are vulnerable. Additionally, labor is not unlike any
other commodity. The law of supply and demand has implications where labor
is concerned. When there is a large labor pool, the value of the labor that
they offer is diminished.
Unions, on the other hand
want as many members as they can get for two reasons. First of all, unions want
to collect union dues from as many people as possible. Second, the more members
a union has, the greater is its clout. The problem for union leaders is to
determine their priorities. When unions faithfully represent their members, they
can provide those members with better working conditions and better wages. That
is what unions are supposed to be about. However, when unions fail to
faithfully represent their members and act in a duplicitous fashion, they are
committing an act of betrayal and should be taken to task for it.
Union leaders must always
remember that they have an obligation to do what is best for our nation as well
as for their interests. Acting in any way that encourages illegal immigration
makes the job of the Border Patrol agents ever more difficult and has other
implications for our nation and for all Americans.
On another note, what I find
interesting, to put it mildly, is that I have yet to hear of any so-called
immigrant rights group being heard on the issue of the exploitation of the
illegal aliens. If these groups are so concerned about "immigrant
rights" why haven't we heard a single word from them? Could it be that
they are well aware that illegal aliens are routinely exploited and they don't
care as long as they can increase their membership rolls with people they are
supposed to help (but in reality do nothing to help them)? Could it be that
these immigrant groups know very well that the sole reason that illegal aliens
are such desirable employees is because they can and are terribly exploited?
Could it be that these organizations know that if they make demands on
unscrupulous employers that the employers would simply hire United States
citizens and lawful immigrants? This would discourage the entry of more illegal
aliens into our country and would cause many of those illegal aliens currently
present in the United States
illegally to leave.
When candidates for political
offices give those inspiring speeches claiming that they want to bring jobs
back to America,
We the People should be asking, "Who will do those jobs?"
Simply getting some factories
back to the United States
and then allowing them to exploit and abuse their employees serves no one’s
purposes except for the crooked employer.
Hard working Americans should
be protected by unions and by our government against unfair hiring practices of
unscrupulous employers.
FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Michael Cutler is a Fellow at the Center for Immigration Studies and a well-respected authority on immigration and border security issues.
Guest columns do not necessarily reflect the views of Accuracy in Media or its staff.
6 Comments | Post a Comment
** SOCIAL SECURITY SHOULD NOTIFY AMERICANS WHEN MORE THAN ONE PERSON IS USING OUR NUMBER ... WE DESERVE THIS SIMPLE SAFEGAURD AGAINST IDENTITY THEFT !!! SEND THE NO MATCH LETTERS NOW AND WATCH MILLIONS OF AMERICANS GET THIER JOBS BACK NOW !!! VAMOOS ! ILLEGAL ALIENS !! LEAVE OUR JOBS ALONE !!!
The days of Labor Unions is over. They have become the very Big Business they fought against so long.
What I find interesting is that the “Motor Voter” law the author decries as “allowing illegal immigrants to vote” was FORCED upon the US by the DENOCRATS, the same party he claims to be a “life-long” member of! Thanks for the “full-disclosure” of your party affiliation but maybe you could have fought to keep the bill from becoming law in the first place!
Unions have outlived their usefulness and serve now only to promote the SOCIALIST agenda of the Democrat Party and to choke those companies which have given them great benefits and jobs over the years (GM comes to mind). “Kill the goose which lays the golden eggs” seems to be their motto now.
That unions no longer support their own workers does not surprise me! They support the illegal aliens to the very detriment of their own members, is that supposed to be a surprise? These are the people that spend union dues money supporting the far left and give their members “no-choice” in whether they should be able to do this or not. They just do it, and if you do not pay them the dues, you are out - can anyone say - extortion.
As a former organizer for Laborers Eastern Region Organizing Fund,NYC,NJ,DEL.I fought illegal immigration for our members and against the unsustainable tide that is illegal immigration.I called for backing the e-verify program to give a starting point for discussion.The crazy thing is The Justice dept. is overseeing the Laborers union and allowing them to facillitate illegal hiring.By the way If anyone knows of a job ,I am out of one.
September 3 at 10:24 am | #1 | Link
Is anyone surprised here? The Unions are controlled by the far left now - and whatever the conventional wisdom of the purpose of a union, in the leftist world ALWAYS expect that it will be the exact opposite in the world today.
That unions no longer support their own workers does not surprise me! They support the illegal aliens to the very detriment of their own members, is that supposed to be a surprise? These are the people that spend union dues money supporting the far left and give their members “no-choice” in whether they should be able to do this or not. They just do it, and if you do not pay them the dues, you are out - can anyone say - extortion?
If one ever understands the far left - they should understand that the left always thinks and does the OPPOSITE of what they say. They scream tolerance, yet they are the most intolerant people ever in America. Free Speech - as long as you are in lock step with their views, if you disagree you should be shouted down and shut up. They are against sexism, they say - but who are the ones that are beating to death Sarah Palin? They are for illegal immigrants, yet they stand against the very people in their unions they should support by supporting illegal breaking of the nation’s law.
Very informative article, Michael Cutler, though anyone familiar with the modus operandi of the left, should today just automatically understand that the key to understanding the leftist animal in the public square is listen to what they say. THEN automatically figure that their actions will be the exact opposite of what they said.