Unions: New Strength From Immigrants

Unions in America grew out of the immigrant experience.

In the early years of this century, organizing was a matter not only of wages, hours and working conditions but also of funeral and insurance benefits, translation services and English classes. Organizers helped the uprooted European immigrants deal with all the new mysteries of life in America--at the workplace and in the community, from the boss to the local bureaucrat.

Unions have evolved, transforming those original immigrants into middle-class Americans. Some unions have become entrenched and exclusive. Union members voted along with three out of four Californians last month to make English our “official language.” An article appeared last year about a union official who resisted the use of Spanish in union meetings. As Bruce Springsteen says, the trouble with success is “forgettin’.”

A 15,000-member local of the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union is currently in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals fighting the extent to which Spanish is used in general union meetings. Eighty percent of this local is Spanish-surnamed. And of these people, approximately 40% of those who are working in the industry are here illegally. The energies of this union are clearly misdirected.

Some union officers fear the internal political consequences of organizing a new membership, but this shortsightedness will isolate unions from a national basis of support and growth.

The Census Bureau estimates that 3 million to 5 million people live here illegally; other estimates run much higher. These immigrants work on farms, in hotels and restaurants, in the garment industry, in light manufacturing and heavy construction--in all kinds of jobs.

Historically, employers have used a worker’s illegal status and the consequent constant threat of deportation as a lever of control and exploitation. The deal was simple--work for substandard wages under substandard conditions or get uppity and risk a visit from the authorities.

The Immigration Control and Legalization Act of 1986 provides the tools to change that cynical system. Employers were persuaded to opt for an adequate supply of workers and relinquish the power to exploit. Employer sanctions for knowingly hiring illegals have been coupled with a sweeping legalization program.

In essence this law offers legal status to those who can prove that they entered this country illegally or became illegal before Jan. 1, 1982, provided they have been in residence in the United States since then.

For immigrant farm workers, whose labor is considered critical for the nation’s agribusiness, the process is even more inclusive. Farm workers who can prove that they lived here and worked 90 days during the 12-month period ending May 1, 1986, can attain permanent lawful-resident status two years after the end of the application period, which will begin next June. They also have 18 months to qualify for legal status. Moreover, the first 350,000 farm workers who can prove that they have been here illegally for three years qualify for legal status one year after the application period.

Almost all farm workers who were living in caves near Salinas last year would qualify for legal status under this law, having worked for more than 90 days. Many of the farm workers who are now living in the canyons north of San Diego would also qualify.

As a voice for the powerless and uprooted, Rep. Howard Berman (D-Panorama City) did a thoughtful and careful job of negotiating the specifics of these legalization provisions. The statute provides that an alien can make a case for legalization not only with employer records but also with records of collective-bargaining associations. The legislative history makes it clear that affidavits of co-workers may also be used.

These provisions give the unions an opportunity to reclaim their heritage and vitality by providing the necessary tools to set up programs to help people gain the legal status to which they have now become entitled. Unions can inform affected people of their new statutory rights and then help them document their cases in a timely fashion. Union involvement will also help ensure that regulations implementing the law, when issued, will conform to legislative intent.

Union leaders must now lead. Every opportunity to change creates risks. Some unionists resent the competition for jobs and the depressing effect on wages that the presence of illegal aliens has caused. The answer lies in organizing the competition. This in turn becomes possible with a more secure legalized work force. The union officials who fear that they will lose power by organizing new constituencies must balance this personal risk against the opportunity to increase the power of unions by including new immigrants.