The four UFCW activists arrested yesterday.

Washington, DC—Four UFCW activists were among those arrested yesterday outside the U.S. Capitol while protesting the failure of House Republican leaders to pass comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship. The march, which included tens of thousands of people from across the country, followed over 180 similar actions in 40 states this weekend.

“Today we sent a message to House Republicans loud and clear,” UFCW President Joe Hansen said. “First and foremost, open this government. Secondly, once it is open, give us a vote on comprehensive immigration reform with a path to citizenship.”

In an op-ed in the Huffington Post last week, Hansen laid out the case for reform. “We want to give aspiring citizens an opportunity to achieve the American Dream,” he said. “We want full rights and protections for immigrant workers. We want fairness and justice. We want an immigration policy that reflects our values. Speaker Boehner, we want a vote.”

The UFCW activists who were arrested spoke about the power of civil disobedience and the importance of standing together for comprehensive immigration reform.

Efrain Aguilera of UFCW Local 5 in San Jose, CA said: “I’m a Hispanic born in Michoacán, Mexico who came to this country legally but without knowing a word of English. The immigrant community has to struggle to find work and when it does, they face humiliation because of being undocumented and live in fear of being deported and separated from their families. Getting arrested for civil disobedience is the least I can do to support this great cause. We need comprehensive immigration reform now so that more than 11 million undocumented immigrants can get out of the shadows, work legally, pay taxes and stop being treated like second class citizens.”

Rigo Valdez of UFCW Local 770 in Los Angeles, CA said: “I was arrested today to stand up for the workers who cannot stand up for themselves. In twenty years of organizing, I have witnessed exploitation of workers because of their immigration status. We can no longer allow the abuse of any workers in our country, and must fight and demand that all of us are treated with dignity and according to our rights. Comprehensive immigration reform is not only morally right, but necessary to guarantee the long term economic and social health of our nation. If our lawmakers will not act, then we will.”

Celestino Rivera of UFCW Local 540 in Dallas, TX said: “I was arrested today because I stand with America’s meatpacking and food processing workers to demand that Congress fix our broken immigration system. I have witnessed the price of keeping working families in the shadows.  All workers should be able to exercise their fundamental rights on the job, regardless of immigration status. Now is the time for reform that preserves and protects these rights.”

Idalid Guerrero of UFCW Local 540 in Dallas, TX said: “I came to Washington today as both a worker and a mother. I know firsthand that women bear a huge burden because of our broken immigration system. We deserve reform that is humane and just and keeps families together. I was arrested in solidarity with all immigrant women who are calling on Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform now.”

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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.

President Hansen says its time for Speaker Boenher to stop letting extremists dictate the actions of the House.  Calling out an “increasingly radical caucus”, President Hansen urges that the outcome of a vote for comprehensive immigration reform should differ from the House’s recent poor decisions on our nation’s budget and social safety net.

The UFCW has been very active in the fight for reform, and has worked hard to help secure votes in the Senate and House. Our members have seen to much destruction from the current, failing immigration system, time and time again.

So, as Joe notes in his op-ed, “they went to town hall meetings, participated in marches and rallies, and visited Congressional offices to create the momentum for comprehensive immigration reform.” All of this hard work paid off in June, when the Senate passed legislation on a strong bipartisan vote, but the House refuses to follow suit. Together with our allies, we must keep up the pressure.

Thanks to this pressure, 26 House Republicans have now announced their support for legislation that will protect the rights of immigrants, keep families together, and gives aspiring Americans the opportunity to become citizens.

“Now it is time for John Boehner to show the guts,” says President Hansen.

UFCW members will be taking part in the rallies happening nationwide on October 5th, to demand a vote for comprehensive immigration reform now.

Read all of what President Hansen has to say in his op-ed here.

The protest comes at a critical time in the fight for reform. Months have passed since the Senate approved its own bill and pressure is mounting for the House to follow suit.  Throughout August, UFCW members went to town hall-style meetings, participated in marches and rallies, and visited Congressional offices to create the momentum for comprehensive immigration reform. During that time, 26 House Republicans announced their support for reform with a road map to citizenship.

UFCW members will continue to ramp up pressure on the House throughout the fall until they allow a vote on common sense reform that protects the rights of immigrants, keeps families together, and creates a path to citizenship for aspiring Americans. Members can pledge their support for immigration reform by signing the petition at http://bit.ly/ZzZRW5.

As delegates to the UFCW’s 7th Regular Convention in Chicago chanted last month, the “time is now.” A video about the impact pro-reform advocates had during the Congressional summer recess can be viewed here.

UFCW members from across the country will continue to reach out to their Representatives about passing comprehensive immigration reform.

As Congress begins their August recess, UFCW International and local unions across the country are focused on keeping the legislative push for comprehensive immigration reform alive and strong. This is a key moment in the immigration debate. UFCW local unions and members across the country have plans to do everything they can this August to ensure their members of Congress return to the Capitol building in September ready and willing to act on a comprehensive immigration reform bill that reflects UFCW values.

Earlier in the summer, UFCW members successfully lobbied their Senators to pass a bipartisan comprehensive immigration reform bill that includes a road-map to citizenship. This summer, they intend to convince the House to do the same. While House members spend the month of August at home in their districts, they will hear from UFCW members at town-hall meetings and other events about the importance of passing an immigration bill that makes sense for workers. The UFCW is pushing to create a common sense immigration process that recognizes the hardships and contributions of people moving here, keeps families together, and creates a road-map to citizenship for new Americans who aspire to be citizens.

WASHINGTON, D.C.

“I commend the Senate for taking a major bipartisan step toward making comprehensive immigration reform the law of the land. This bill includes many of the UFCW’s principles including a roadmap to citizenship for those already here, strong labor protections for immigrant workers, and a modernized system for allocating employment-based visas based on hard data, not politics.

“For decades, the UFCW has been a staunch advocate for fixing a flawed immigration system that punishes working men and women, tears families apart, and fails workers, families, communities and businesses alike.  We have been proud to be part of a national movement that has led the way in changing the narrative–so that at this point in time a majority of Americans support comprehensive immigration reform.

“Let me be clear. This is a compromise bill. The ‘border surge’ provision added earlier this week is bad public policy at a high price and the UFCW will do everything in its power to mitigate its impact while making clear no further concessions are acceptable. But we cannot allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. Senate passage of comprehensive immigration reform with a road map to citizenship sends a clear message that America will no longer penalize aspiring citizens just for trying to make a better life for themselves and their families. It is now time for the House to finish the job.”

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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.

On June 18th and 19th over 150 UFCW members and staff came to Washington D.C. to talk face to face with their Members of Congress about the important issues facing working men and women.

NJ 464ALourdes Castellano, a member of Local 1776 who works at Cargill in Hazelton, Pennsylvania, was proud to add her voice to the debate on immigration reform.

“I’ve worked at Cargill for 11 years and I would say 95% of my coworkers are Latino. We all want comprehensive immigration reform so that we can feel like we have a welcoming home. It’s especially difficult to see coworkers with family members who are separated because not all of them are able to come to America. We want a fair path to citizenship so that families can be reunified.”

With the Senate currently debating S. 744, a comprehensive immigration reform bill, Local 5 member Lachele Thomas, who works at Safeway in Salinas, California, found the very real prospect of helping to pass this landmark legislation exciting.

“This is historical. It’s almost overwhelming. I’ll be so proud if I can look back and know that we helped pass immigration reform.”
California Local 5It was also an excellent time to talk with Members of Congress about properly shaping bills that have already been passed. With the Affordable Care Act (ACA) slated to take full effect in 2014, Local 1262 member Delores Jackson, a Shop Rite employee in Rochelle Park, New Jersey, was happy to be sharing her concerns about fairly implementing the law.

“I’m very excited to be here. I want them to hear my point of view. I’ve been with the union for years. We fought hard for our current benefits and we deserve to keep them. I’m hoping I can convince some of these politicians to help us with this ACA problem. I want to keep my good health care. I don’t want it to change. I can’t afford to pay more for less health care coverage – that’s just not right. Usually politicians just talk to us – it’s time we came up here and talked with them. They need to hear our voice. They need to know how it is for us.”

One of the big takeaways, especially for members who had never lobbied before, was how effective their participation can be. For Humberto Munoz, a member of Local 5 who works at Safeway in Salinas, California, the experience was rewarding.

“I met my Congressman – visiting him in his office was a great experience. I realized being here that they do listen and that talking with them really can make a difference.”

With members and staff from California, Michigan, Missouri, Texas, Kentucky, Georgia, New York, New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Arizona, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Virginia, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Tennessee, Nevada, Florida, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Maryland showing up, it truly was a national lobby day.

If anyone reading this is thinking about getting more involved politically – stop thinking about it and start doing it. Shante Vinalon, a Local 1996 member who works at Kroger in Decatur, Georgia, was happy she did.

“I’ve worked at Kroger for 8 years. This is my first time lobbying in DC. Meeting and sitting down with Representatives one on one is empowering. I get an understanding of where they’re coming from and they get an understanding of where we’re coming from. I’m able to see who is for us and who is against us. I like it. It’s a great experience. Everyone should do it. I plan on encouraging all my friends back home to do it.”

Georgia 1996UFCW’s national lobby day proved to everyone that politicians are a lot more approachable than they sometimes seem. If we want our concerns to be heard, we have to be willing to speak up.

If anyone reading this is thinking about getting more involved politically – stop thinking about it and start doing it. Shante Vinalon, a Local 1996 member who works at Kroger in Decatur, Georgia, was happy she did.

“I’ve worked at Kroger for 8 years. This is my first time lobbying in DC. Meeting and sitting down with Representatives one on one is empowering. I get an understanding of where they’re coming from and they get an understanding of where we’re coming from. I’m able to see who is for us and who is against us. I like it. It’s a great experience. Everyone should do it. I plan on encouraging all my friends back home to do it.”

UFCW’s National Lobby Day proved to everyone that politicians are a lot more approachable than they sometimes seem. If we want our concerns to be heard, we have to be willing to speak up.

WASHINGTON, DC

“We write in support of the comprehensive immigration reform process and thank you for your critical and constructive efforts in support of this legislation,” says the letter signed by UFCW International President Joe Hansen and Barry Carpenter of FMIC.

The labor-business coalition said they support the Senate bill’s provisions to establish a roadmap to citizenship, protect family based immigration, promote smart, effective border enforcement, implement a workable, transparent employment verification system, and create an occupational visa for non-seasonal, permanent positions. However, Hansen and Carpenter are also calling for commonsense improvements to S. 744 in the areas of visa allocation and employment verification.

The labor-business coalition asked for more flexibility when it comes to employment verification. “Allowing employers to use Self-Check in a uniform, nondiscriminatory fashion will create greater transparency for new employees, and will enable employers to ensure that their new hires are not circumventing E-Verify,” the letter reads.

Moreover, the letter outlined: “If an employer takes the extra step of deterring identity theft through the uniform use of Self-Check, then the employer should be presumed to have acted in ‘good faith’ with respect to the E-Verify confirmations it receives.”

Finally, the labor-business coalition requested that Senators direct the U.S. Departments of Homeland Security and Justice to create regulations that would provide specific rules of the road “describing a course of conduct…that satisfies employment verification requirements and concurrently avoids anti-discrimination liability.” “If an employer follows these regulations, then the employer is presumed to have complied with both the verification and anti-discrimination rules,” the letter reads.

The labor-business coalition said they look forward to working with the Senate to improve S.744 and seeing comprehensive immigration reform become the law of the land.

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Members from UFCW Local 348-S rally to support the livelihoods of immigrant workers in New York.

On April 8, members of UFCW Local 348-S and allies rallied at the Homeland Security Office of Investigation in New York City. Members are fighting the Department of Homeland Security audits of work authorization records that could threaten the livelihood of immigrant workers in New York.

New York’s office of Homeland Security Investigations has announced an audit of work authorization records at 3 Guys from Brooklyn, a family-owned produce stand and grocery. The move comes on the eve of long-awaited national immigration reform legislation. UFCW Local 348-S members are calling on DHS to halt the audit until the specifics of comprehensive immigration reform are known.

The I-9 audit that DHS is pursuing examines the personnel records offered by employees when hired. If DHS agents discover workers they say are undocumented, they can fine the employer—or order him to fire workers. Thousands of these “silent raids” in recent years have led to untold numbers of workers losing their jobs and their foothold in local communities.

Currently, some members of the senate are writing an immigration bill that would severely limit access to green cards for extended family members of current American citizens. Senator Lindsay Graham, R-SC, who is part of a bipartisan senate committee for immigration reform, “indicated that he would prefer to eliminate” the current immigration clauses that allow citizens to petition for their married children and siblings to be brought to the U.S.

The UFCW, along with countless other organizations, believes that “families belong together”, no matter what their immigration status. Also, we believe that family relationships cannot be summed up by name – aunts and uncles can be just as close to someone as mothers and fathers, and cousins can be like brothers and sisters.  It is unfair that someone be denied a green card simply because their title isn’t included in the traditional nuclear family unit.

Written in the letter to Congress and President Obama, is the fact that “as of November 2012, nearly 4.3 million loved ones are waiting in the family visa backlogs.” Thousands of people from Mexico, China and other Asian countries, and elsewhere around the world have been waiting for years to be reunited with loved ones in the U.S.  Also noted, was the fact that “strengthening the current family-based immigration system is good for our economy and is commonsense policy for the United States.”  Turning away from a family-based system to focus on the economy doesn’t make sense, because, as said in the letter:

“A robust family-based immigration has significant economic benefits, especially for long-term economic growth of the United States. Family-based immigrants foster innovation and development of new businesses, particularly small and medium-sized businesses that would not otherwise exist, creating jobs for American workers and raising revenues for our recovering economy. Families also provide support and care for young children and the elderly, allowing others to focus on building the businesses and contributing to American society.”

UFCW and our allies hope that the President and Congress will uphold the family-based values that America was built on, and do what is right for working America.

“The Supreme Court has rightly struck down the majority of Arizona’s controversial immigration law. This decision is a repudiation of those advocating a patchwork of extreme state laws and reaffirms the federal government’s constitutional role in setting immigration policy. We are disappointed the law’s provision encouraging racial profiling survived and hope it will be overturned in the near future. It is time to move forward on this critical issue. President Obama started that process by issuing a common sense order to prevent the deportation of young immigrants who serve our nation. It is now time for Congress to get to work on comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship for those who work hard and play by the rules. Only then can we truly fix our broken immigration system.”

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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.

“During the Republican presidential primaries, there was no one more radical on the issue of immigration than Mitt Romney. He promised to veto the DREAM Act and encouraged undocumented immigrants to self-deport. Last week, he criticized President Obama’s historic immigration order as temporary, even though it would prevent the deportation of nearly a million young, patriotic immigrants who work hard and play by the rules. Today, in front of the nation’s Latino leaders, Romney offered more of the same, pledging to replace the President’s order with something more permanent. That something is likely to be in the mold of Arizona’s restrictive and inhumane immigration law, an approach Romney strongly supported. Mitt Romney may be a flip-flopper, but when it comes to immigration, his extreme position is crystal clear.”

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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – United Food and Commercial Workers Union International President (UFCW) Joseph T. Hansen released the following statement today in response to President Obama’s announcement of relief for undocumented youth:

“President Obama today made an important investment in the American dream for thousands of hard-working immigrant students and veterans by removing the threat of deportation and creating a clear path to full civic and economic participation for promising young people.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of high performing children of immigrants who were raised in the United States—including honor roll students, star athletes, and aspiring teachers, doctors, lawyers and U.S. soldiers—graduate from high school. Despite their academic achievements, they have been effectively barred from contributing fully to our communities. Today, thanks to President Obama’s bold leadership, the threat of deportation has been lifted for those aspiring American dreamers.

President Obama is embracing these promising students and soldiers who have demonstrated a commitment to hard work and a strong desire to be upstanding members of our society.

The UFCW, the voice for workers in the food and retail industries, is proud of the thousands of young immigrant activists who have organized into one strong, clear voice for fairness. They are weaving the unique fabric of American society – hard work, entrepreneurship, loyalty to country, ingenuity and invention. We are proud to stand with them, and with President Obama, as we work together to bring hope and a brighter future for every worker in our country.”

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The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) represents more than 1.3 million workers, primarily in the retail and meatpacking, food processing and poultry industries. The UFCW protects the rights of workers and strengthens America’s middle class by fighting for health care reform, living wages, retirement security, safe working conditions and the right to unionize so that working men and women and their families can realize the American Dream. For more information about the UFCW’s effort to protect workers’ rights and strengthen America’s middle class, visit www.ufcw.org, or join our online community at www.facebook.com/UFCWinternational and www.twitter.com/ufcw.

“”Cecilia Muñoz is an outstanding choice for Director of the Domestic Policy Council. She has spent her entire career as a fierce advocate for social and economic justice. During her time at the National Council of La Raza, she led the fight to improve opportunities for all Hispanics. As Director of Intergovernmental Affairs at the White House, she has been the top liaison to state and local governments on issues important to working families and the President’s senior advisor on immigration. Indeed, we hope her appointment to this important position represents a renewed commitment by the Administration to making comprehensive immigration reform the law of the land.”

The unique fabric of American society – hard work, entrepreneurship, loyalty to country, ingenuity and invention – stitched together by generations of immigrants will continue to endure regardless of this disheartening vote. The dreams of young people will not be checked, and the UFCW will continue to fight for a broad and bipartisan coalition to restore the American Dream and pass the Dream Act.

“The legislation introduced today by Senators Menendez and Leahy is an important step toward real, meaningful comprehensive immigration reform.

“As we have said, for too long, our nation’s badly broken immigration system has allowed unscrupulous employers to drive down wages and working conditions in industries across the nation, while creating an underground economy where labor laws are shredded and workers are afraid to report safety violations.

“The legislation announced today would chart a new course for our country: A course that protects workers, respects families and reflects our nation’s rich immigrant tradition.

“We applaud these Senators for offering real leadership and sensible solutions to our nation’s challenges, and we stand ready to work with them to ensure that pragmatic immigration reform becomes a reality. The labor movement has already released historic joint principles on immigration. The House has introduced a CIR bill, and now Senate Democrats have acted. It is time to roll up our sleeves and make this happen.

”It is unfortunate that Republicans across the country continue to use the issue of immigration as a tool to divide and to scapegoat. The American people want and deserve more. So rather than fabricating stories about beheadings in Arizona, let’s use this opportunity, and this legislation, to begin a level-headed debate about revamping our immigration system and revitalizing our economy.”

At a near universal level of agreement, voters strongly believe our economy needs to be defined by jobs with benefits and wages that can support a family. It is exactly this message that families from across the country are coming to Washington on Oct. 2^nd to deliver to Congress.

“American voters want our nation’s lawmakers to focus on creating economic policies that support and sustain good, quality jobs,” said Joe Hansen, UFCW International President. “They want politicians who will stand up to the fringe elements of our society and to stand for pragmatic solutions to our economic challenges.”

“One Nation is about turning our attention to the needs of people,” said Ben Jealous, President of the NAACP. “A strong economy is only strong if it provides good jobs that support families and bring opportunity. We need to get our country moving; we need to get on common ground, we are coming together this Saturday to start this process; we are going to turn out in force this election cycle, and elect leaders who put people first.”

“The UFCW poll shows that a huge majority of Americans agree we must improve job quality, even as we focus on creating new jobs,” said Janet Murguia, President and CEO of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR). “That’s just one of the reasons why on October 2 we’ll be joining thousands of our friends on the National Mall calling for jobs, justice, and, yes, comprehensive immigration reform.”

Over the last 30 years, workers’ wages have remained essentially stagnant, while worker productivity skyrocketed by 75 percent. For three decades, American workers have been producing more, but taking home paychecks that don’t reflect their hard work. Consequently, we see the biggest pay gap in nearly a century.

“The only way to achieve lasting economic recovery and to ensure future prosperity is to address the wage inequity crises that is plaguing our nation’s workers,” added Hansen. “If our elected officials fail to address this issue, our nation can never fully regain its financial footing.”

With so much of the cable television debate focused on the noisy fringes of our society, it seems that the aspirations and needs of the vast majority of hard-working Americans are getting drowned out by the noise and the nonsense of the extreme elements of the political debate.

The reality, as this poll shows, is that the American people want pragmatic government solutions and sensible legislative actions that address job creation and that ensure a foundation for secure and stable communities.

Voters have a clear vision of what kind of economy they want, and while they understand the current economic situation is difficult, they still believe that all jobs should pay a living wage, come with affordable, quality health care, and offer real retirement security.

The poll, taken among 700 randomly selected registered voters nationwide, shows: 

1. Concern about the economy goes beyond the present; voters are deeply questioning the types of jobs America will have in the future. Eighty-seven percent of voters are very or somewhat concerned that America’s future jobs will be low-wage and low-benefit – including 65 percent who are very concerned.
2. Eighty-nine percent of voters agree that economic development should result in jobs with good wages and benefits that can support a family.
3. Eighty-four percent of voters agree that economic recovery means creating jobs with good benefits so people can afford to take care of their families, not low- wage jobs with no benefits.
4. Eighty-four percent of voters favor requiring that government contracts go to companies that provide good paying jobs and benefits so that their employees don’t end up on welfare programs like Medicaid and food stamps.

According to the Lake poll, a majority of voters believe job growth must be good job growth. In a number of polls, Lake Research has found that a key economic frame for Americans is to have good-paying jobs—no matter what the sector.

To make that happen our elected officials must actively engage in the policy decisions that guide economic growth and job creation, and they must correct the current wage gap so that as worker productivity increases, paychecks also increase.

In addition to pushing for economic policies that address income inequality and quality job growth, the UFCW, NCLR and other civil rights organizations will be using the One Nation Working Together rally to push for comprehensive immigration reform as a key component of economic recovery and prosperity.

Study after study has shown that meaningful, comprehensive immigration reform would help bolster the economy and ensure that there is fairness and justice in America’s workplaces.

“Failure to enact immigration reform impedes our economic recovery efforts because under the current system, unscrupulous employers exploit undocumented immigrants to lower wages and working conditions for all workers,” added Murguia. “Reform that requires undocumented immigrants to come forward, pay taxes, and learn English to obtain legal status would strengthen labor standards for all, by eliminating the ability of bottom-feeding employers to rip off workers.”

The UFCW will continue working with leaders like NCLR and NAACP, as well as other labor organizations, to organize and mobilize our members and their families around key issues facing our communities—from job creation to labor law reform to immigration reform.

“It is clear that Arizona’s immigration bill is a recipe for racial profiling that runs counter to the values and ideals that make our nation strong.

“The decision by the Justice Department to challenge this law is a clear sign that enforcing immigration law is the role of the federal government.

“We applaud the Justice Department and the Obama Administration for its vigorous defense of our Constitution and for protecting and advocating on behalf of working people across the country.

“”Our broken immigration system cannot be fixed through a patchwork of piecemeal proposals. We need a comprehensive overhaul at the federal level, not short-sighted, politically motivated laws enacted on a state-by-state basis.

“America needs a 21^st century immigration system that works for the American worker—a system where undocumented workers can come out of the shadows and get right with the law, a system where all workers can see their job and earnings prospects strengthened because bottom feeding employers are no longer given free reign to hire and abuse undocumented immigrants, and a system where all workers can speak up without fear of retaliation.

“It is unfortunate that many Republicans seem more focused on political expediency and personal job security than on our national and economic security, our liberty and the defense of our Constitution.

“In recent years, there have been politicians—on both sides of the aisle—who have shown real leadership, courage and commitment on this issue. For the sake of our nation, it is time for them to once again come together and lead our country forward.

“All across the country, UFCW locals and our members are organizing and mobilizing our communities around the importance of comprehensive immigration reform and protecting workers’ constitutional rights.

“Together, we can bring stability and security to our economy, to our borders and to our families.  Together, we can refocus this debate on real, meaningful comprehensive immigration reform that restores the rule of law, respects the constitutional rights of all workers, and recognizes the incredible role that our nation’s diversity has played—and will continue to play—in making our communities strong and vibrant.”

“President Obama today laid out a clear and compelling case why the passage of comprehensive immigration reform legislation remains one of the most pressing issues facing our nation.

“For too long, our nation’s immigration system has fueled exploitation, discrimination and abuse. It has allowed unscrupulous employers to drive down wages and working conditions in industries across the nation, while creating an underground economy where labor laws are shredded and workers are afraid to report serious safety concerns.

“Our current immigration system is badly broken, and Congress’ failure to address the issue is leading to a patchwork of state and local laws that are only exacerbating the problem.

“The President today charted a new course for our country—a course that protects workers, respects families and reflects our nation’s interests and our better instincts. It is a course built on security, prosperity, family unity and opportunity. It is a course that holds true to our values as a nation of immigrants, upholds the rule of law and embraces the vitality and the diversity that are the fabric of a forward-looking and strong society.

“Passing comprehensive immigration reform is about addressing the needs of our nation’s workers, its families and its communities. It is about moving America forward toward a brighter tomorrow. We are a nation that has always respected hard work, family and the pursuit of the American Dream. And we believe our immigration system must hold true to these principles.

“The UFCW applauds the President and his Administration for addressing this important challenge. Today’s speech was an important step in rallying working families around this critical issue.

“It is now time for Congress to step up and act. Democrats have offered a tough, practical and responsible plan for fixing our immigration system. It is now time for Republicans, who for too long have used this issue to divide and demean, to do more than just offer heated rhetoric, legislative roadblocks and vitriolic sound bytes. It is time for real leadership. It is time for those who are bent on blocking progress to get out of the way.

“Immigration reform is about rebuilding our economy and ensuring our national security. If our elected officials refuse to address these core issues, if they abdicate their fundamental obligation to their constituents, they have no business being in the halls of Congress.

“The UFCW looks forward to working with the Administration and Congress to make the dream of comprehensive immigration reform a reality for millions of working families across the country. Together, we can bring stability and security to our economy, to our borders and to our families.”

WASHINGTON, DC – The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) today joined in a lawsuit filed in federal court challenging the constitutionality of Arizona’s recently passed immigration law, S.B. 1070. Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include the Service Employees International Union and various civil rights organizations.

In addition, the National Immigration Law Center (NILC), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will join in providing legal counsel for the suit.

UFCW International President Joe Hansen released the following statement regarding the lawsuit:

“We believe S.B. 1070 is unconstitutional, un-American and that it undermines our nation’s rich immigrant history. The law effectively legalizes racial profiling and sanctions harassment and discrimination. We are filing this suit to protect the rights of our members and all workers in the state of Arizona—and to uphold the values and ideals that make our nation strong.

“The UFCW has been at the forefront of the fight for immigration reform because we have seen firsthand the devastation caused by enforcement-only strategies – we’ve seen families torn apart, we’ve seen communities destroyed and we’ve seen workers rights’ shredded. We need a comprehensive overhaul of our broken immigration system at the federal level, not regressive, racially motivated laws enacted on a state-by-state basis.”

The Complaint will advance five major allegations:

First: Under the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, federal law fully preempts state and local law in immigration matters because:

• Immigration is an inherently federal concern;
• The comprehensiveness of federal law fully occupies the field; and,
• There is grave risk of conflict between federal and state law in this field.

Second: S.B. 1070 impermissibly encroaches upon the Right to Travel of the U.S. Constitution by subjecting racial and ethnic minorities traveling to Arizona to the risk of being stopped, interrogated, and detained as elements of its enforcement.

Third: S.B. 1070 violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution in chilling freedom of speech and assembly because it prohibits individuals from soliciting work in a public place. The law requires law enforcement to engage in content discrimination in determining whether the speech related to obtaining work is proscribed by the law, and even if the applicable provision is content neutral, it is overbroad and vague.

Fourth: S.B. 1070 violates the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, requiring law enforcement to conduct investigatory stops of individuals without reasonable suspicion of criminal activity, as well as providing for warrantless seizures in the absence of probable cause that crimes have been committed.

Fifth: S.B. 1070 violates the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, impermissibly singling out non-citizens on the basis of alienage and national origin as a primary means of enforcement.

The complaint seeks declaratory and injunctive relief.

Under the banner, “Boycott Intolerance,” the groups held a press conference this morning to denounce SB 1070 and pledged not to hold major conventions, conferences or other special events involving significant travel to Arizona from out-of-state.

The UFCW released the following statement about the boycott:

“Arizona’s legislation is unworkable, it is unconstitutional and it undermines our nation’s rich immigrant history and heritage. It is a recipe for racial profiling and a marked retreat from the values and ideals that make America strong.

“For our members, this issue is personal. UFCW members have seen first-hand how enforcement-only tactics fuel racial profiling—and lead to the trampling of our constitution.

“We saw it during the Bush Administration raids on our Swift plants—how Latino workers were treated, how they were profiled because of the color of their skin, how law enforcement separated workers based simply on who they believed were undocumented.

“We saw how these heavy handed tactics unfairly – and incorrectly – targeted U.S. citizens and legal permanent residents. That is why we are committed to fighting this legislation – and why we are abstaining from doing business in the state of Arizona until this issue is resolved.

“But let’s be clear, the UFCW is not turning its backs on the workers of Arizona that are going to be targeted by this unjust law—we will work hard to defend their constitutional rights. We will be providing legal assistance and resources to ensure that all workers can vigorously defend their rights.

“Our country – and our communities – cannot stand by while these draconian measures are allowed to spread across our country.

“In recent years, the debate over immigration has grown increasingly polarizing. The Arizona bill is the result of that divisive debate—and the product of political expediency at its worst.

“America needs an immigration system that works for the American worker. We need to refocus this debate on real, meaningful, comprehensive immigration reform that restores the rule of law, respects the constitutional rights of all workers and recognizes the incredible role that our nation’s diversity has played—and will continue to play—in making our communities strong and vibrant.”

“”Arizona’s new immigration law is unworkable, unconstitutional and it undermines our nation’s rich immigrant history and heritage. It is a recipe for racial profiling and a marked retreat from the values and ideals that have made America strong.

“”In recent years, the debate over immigration has grown increasingly inflammatory, polarizing, and, at times, it has run counter to our nation’s interests and our better instincts. This bill is the result of that divisive debate—and the product of political expediency at its worst.

“”The UFCW strongly denounces the legislation and urges the Department of Justice to aggressively challenge its constitutionality. We also urge Congress to lead on this critical issue at the federal level, where it belongs and where it can be addressed in a comprehensive, rational and productive manner.

“”All across the country, UFCW locals and our members are organizing and mobilizing their communities around the importance of comprehensive immigration reform and protecting workers’ constitutional rights.

“”America needs a 21^st century immigration system that works for the American worker—a system where undocumented workers can come out of the shadows and get right with the law, a system where all workers can see their job and earnings prospects strengthened because bottom feeding employers are no longer given free reign to hire and abuse undocumented immigrants, and a system where all workers can speak up without fear of retaliation or discrimination.

“”Together, we can bring stability and security to our economy, to our borders and to our families.  Together, we can refocus this debate on real, meaningful, comprehensive immigration reform that restores the rule of law, respects the constitutional rights of all workers, and recognizes the incredible role that our nation’s diversity has played—and will continue to play—in making our communities strong and vibrant.”"

Full text of the joint letter follows.

Dear Senators Graham and Schumer:

We praise your continued leadership to reach across the aisle to craft a comprehensive fix to the broken immigration system that is prolonging the economic crisis and hurting working families.  We collectively represent over 15 million American workers, some born here and others who have migrated from elsewhere to work for this great country.  Although there are aspects of your plan that cause us concern, we view it as a work in progress, and we are confident that the details can be worked out as your framework is turned into legislation and works its way towards enactment.

Both U.S. born and immigrant  workers are badly served by our current broken immigration laws which allow employers to divide and exploit workers, are a drag on our nation’s economy, and cause unnecessary suffering.  We need to replace them with a system that levels the playing field as we fight for better wages and working conditions for all workers.

The labor movement came together about a year ago to urge passage of an immigration system that works better for America’s workers and we remain absolutely united in that goal. At that time, we explained that immigration reform must be a component of a shared prosperity agenda that raises the standard of living and quality of life of all workers.  Since then, we have rolled up our sleeves and worked hard to enact this sorely needed reform, including good faith efforts to find common ground with business and other diverse stakeholders around an immigration reform proposal that works for America.

That said, we feel strongly that it would be a mistake to enact any new employment-based visa program that does not adequately protect workers—both US and foreign-born—and that is not justified by filling established labor shortages.  We have proposed the establishment of an independent research-based commission that can accurately assess the need for foreign workers on an ongoing basis as our economy fluctuates and develops, which will satisfy the legitimate needs of employers and at the same time protect the interests of American workers   We look forward to discussing this proposal with you in the days to come.

We are a nation that respects hard work, family and the pursuit of the American Dream. Our immigration system must hold true to these principles.  This is an instance where upholding our principles is also good for the bottom line.  It is estimated that comprehensive immigration reform would grow the economy by as much as $1.5 trillion.

We believe that a just, fair and practical compromise is very much within reach if there is political leadership and if all sides are willing to agree on a framework that:

• Preserves the rights of all workers,
• Accurately matches the numbers and conditions of entry of newcomers to labor shortages in our economy with the flexibility necessary to meet the legitimate needs of employers, and
• Is consistent with American values.

On behalf of America’s workers, we request immediate congressional action and look forward to working with you as you perfect your framework and translate it into legislation.  We stand ready to meet with business to discuss future flow and unified support for a comprehensive immigration bill and we ask business leaders to join us in this call. We urge Senators and Representatives of both parties to stand up to the divisive anti-immigrant bullies who seek to shout down sensible immigration solutions that are supported by the majority of the American people.  Let’s get this done right, and let’s do it this year.

Sincerely,

Joe Hansen, International President of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW)

Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) 

Richard Trumka, President of the AFL-CIO

Background:

AFL-CIO/Change To Win Framework for Comprehensive Immigration Reform

Immigration reform is a component of a shared prosperity agenda that focuses on improving productivity and quality; limiting wage competition; strengthening labor standards, especially the right of workers to organize and bargain collectively; and providing social safety nets and high quality lifelong education and training for workers and their families. To achieve this goal, immigration reform must fully protect U. S. workers, reduce the exploitation of immigrant workers, and reduce the employers’ incentive to hire undocumented workers rather than U.S. workers. The most effective way to do that is for all workers–immigrant and native-born–to have full and complete access to the protection of labor, health and safety and other laws. Comprehensive immigration reform must complement a strong, well-resourced and effective labor standards enforcement initiative that prioritizes workers’ rights and workplace protections. This approach will ensure that immigration does not depress wages and working conditions or encourage marginal low-wage industries that depend heavily on substandard wages, benefits, and working conditions.

This approach to immigration reform has five major interconnected pieces: (1) an independent commission to assess and manage future flows, based on labor market shortages that are determined on the basis of actual need; (2) a secure and effective worker authorization mechanism; (3) rational operational control of the border; (4) adjustment of status for the current undocumented population; and (5) improvement, not expansion, of temporary worker programs, limited to temporary or seasonal, not permanent, jobs.

Read full framework:

“For too long, our nation’s immigration system has fueled exploitation, discrimination and abuse. It has allowed unscrupulous employers to drive down wages and working conditions in industries across the nation, while creating an underground economy where labor laws are shredded and workers are forced to toil in fear.

“This legislation charts a new course for our country. A course that protects workers, respects families and reflects our nation’s interests and our better instincts. It upholds our values as a nation of immigrants and embraces the vitality and diversity that are the fabric of a vibrant and strong society.

“The UFCW applauds Congressman Gutierrez and his colleagues for offering real solutions to address this important issue, and we look forward to working with him to make comprehensive immigration reform a reality.”

(Chicago, Ill.) – The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is proud to partner with the Embassy of Mexico, the U.S. Department of Labor and allied organizations to promote the first “Semana de Derechos Laborales”, or Labor Rights Week.  UFCW International President Joe Hansen joined the Mexican Consul General of Chicago, Manuel Rodríguez Arriaga, to launch the national outreach and education program that is taking place in thirteen cities across the country.

As Labor Day 2009 approaches, Semana de Derechos Laborales, which continues through September 4, will focus on the inclusion of Mexican nationals in American workplaces and communities. Programming includes workshops and informational sessions on labor, immigration, and human rights.

“Our communities and neighborhoods are better, safer places to work and live when all workers know and exercise their rights,” said Hansen.  “Semana de Derechos Laborales is a perfect way to empower Mexican national workers with information and promote full participation in the civic fabric of our nation.  The UFCW has been a union of immigrants for more than 100 years and this weeks’ program helps ensure that a new generation of workers has the resources to have their voice heard on the job.”

Educating immigrant workforces about rights in the workplace helps raise the standard of treatment for all workers in industries where new immigrants often work, including meatpacking, food processing, and grocery.

“In the past few years, a growing number of immigrant workers were subject to abuse under a mantle of fear that was created by policy approaches which allowed unscrupulous employers to use immigration status to threaten deportation if workers reported discrimination, wage and hour or health and safety violations. We recognize the leadership of Secretary Solis in this issue and believe that joint efforts like the Labor Rights Week will strengthen our ability to protect the rights of our nationals abroad”, said Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan.

The UFCW is a proud partner in this week’s activities and has worked with local consulate offices to prepare activities uniquely suited to the communities in which they are offered.  The program in Fresno, California, conducted by the local consulate and UFCW Local 5 will focus outreach to workers in the agricultural and dairy industries.  UFCW Local 540 and local partners in Dallas, Texas, are taking questions about labor rights on a three-hour long news broadcast program on the local Univision network.  The kick-off event in Chicago, Illinois will feature President Hansen and Consul General Rodríguez Arriaga, who will be joined by a number of community leaders.

More details about local events are available at www.ufcw.org

The UFCW has been a national leader in the fight to develop a fairer, more humane immigration system. President Hansen recently served as founding chairman of a national commission which studied federal raids on workplaces and made recommendations for comprehensive immigration reform.

Earlier this year, UFCW Canada and the Mexican state of Michoacán signed a landmark co-operation agreement to ensure that the human and labor rights of agricultural workers from Michoacán, Mexico are recognized and enforced while they work in Canadian fields and greenhouses.

With 1.3 million members, the UFCW is the nation’s largest private-sector union with members in the supermarket, meatpacking, food processing, and other industries.

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Programming open to the media will continue until September 4. Inquiries and interview requests should be directed to Jill Cashen, UFCW, 202-728-4797 or press@ufcw.org.

UFCW en Conjunto con el Consulado General de México Lanzarán Celebración de la “Semana de Derechos Laborales” en la Aproximación del Día del Trabajo de 2009.

Filiales Locales de la Unión Trabajarán Junto a los Consulados Mexicanos en Trece Ciudades para Ofrecer Innovadores Programas de Derechos Laborales

(Chicago, Ill.) – La Unión Internacional de Trabajadores de la Industria de Alimentos y del Comercio (UFCW, por sus siglas en inglés) está orgullosa de asociarse a la Embajada de México, el Departamento de Trabajo y otras organizaciones aliadas para promover la primera “Semana de Derechos Laborales” (Labor Rights Week). Joe Hansen, presidente internacional de la UFCW, se unió a Manuel Rodríguez Arriaga, cónsul general de México en Chicago, para lanzar una campaña nacional de alcance y un programa de educación que se están realizando en trece ciudades en todo el país.

En la aproximación del Día del Trabajo de 2009, La Semana de Derechos Laborales continuará hasta el 4 de septiembre y se enfoca en la inclusión de los nacionales mexicanos en los lugares de trabajo y comunidades de los Estados Unidos. Los programas incluyen clases y sesiones informativas en derechos laborales, inmigración y derechos humanos.

“Nuestras comunidades y vecindarios son lugares mejores y más seguros para trabajar y vivir cuando todos los trabajadores saben y ejercen sus derechos”, expresó Hansen. “La Semana de Derechos Laborales es una manera perfecta para dar más poder a los trabajadores mexicanos por medio de la información y promoción de su participación activa en la base cívica de nuestra nación. La UFCW ha sido la unión de los inmigrantes por más de 100 años y el programa a realizarse estas semanas ayudará a asegurar que una nueva generación de trabajadores tenga los medios para que puedan hacer escuchar su voz en los lugares donde trabajan”.

Educar a los trabajadores inmigrantes sobre los derechos de los inmigrantes en sus lugares de trabajo ayuda a mejorar los estándares del trato a todos los trabajadores en las industrias en donde los nuevos inmigrantes generalmente trabajan, incluyendo las empacadoras cárnicas, procesadoras de alimentos y supermercados.

“En los últimos años, un creciente número de trabajadores inmigrantes fueron sujetos a abusos bajo el manto del miedo que fue creado por políticas que permitieron a empleadores inescrupulosos usar el estatus migratorio para amenazar a sus trabajadores con la deportación si ellos reportaban discriminación, o violaciones salariales, sanitarias o de salud. Reconocemos que el liderazgo de la Secretaria Solis en este tema y creemos que los esfuerzos conjuntos como la Semana de Derechos Laborales fortalecerán nuestra capacidad para proteger los derechos de nuestros compatriotas en el extranjero”, indicó Arturo Sarukhan, embajador de México en los Estados Unidos.

La UFCW está orgullosa se estar asociada con las actividades de esta semana y ha trabajado con las oficinas consulares para preparar las actividades únicamente adecuadas para las comunidades en las cuales se ofrecen. Dentro de estas se encuentran el programa en Fresco, California, dirigido por el consulado local y el Local 5 de la UFCW que se enfocará en alcanzar a los trabajadores en las industrias agrarias y de productos lácteos. El Local 540 de la UFCW y socios locales en Dallas, Texas, están recibiendo preguntas sobre los derechos de los trabajadores en un programa televisivo transmitido por la cadena Univisión que dura tres horas. El evento inaugural se realizará en Chicago con el Presidente Hansen y el Cónsul General Rodríguez Arriaga, quienes estarán acompañados de varios líderes comunitarios.

Más detalles sobre los eventos locales están disponibles en el www.ufcw.org

La UFCW ha liderado la lucha nacional para desarrollar un sistema de inmigración más humano y justo. El Presidente Hansen recientemente fue el presidente fundador de una comisión nacional que estudió las redadas federales en los lugares de trabajo y realizó recomendaciones para una reforma migratoria comprensiva.

Previamente en este año, la UFCW en Canadá y el estado mexicano de Michoacán, firmaron un histórico acuerdo de cooperación para asegurarse que los derechos humanos y laborales de los trabajadores agrícolas de Michoacán, México sean reconocidos y cumplidos mientras trabajan en los campos e invernaderos de Canadá.

Con 1.3 millones de miembros, la UFCW es la unión (sindicato) más grande dentro del sector privado con miembros en supermercados, empacadoras cárnicas, procesamiento de comida, y otras industrias.

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Los programas están abiertos a los medios de comunicación y continuarán hasta el 4 de septiembre. Preguntas y peticiones de entrevistas deben ser dirigidas a Jill Cashen, UFCW al 202-728-4797 o press@ufcw.org.

Food and Commercial Workers Join Mexican Consul General to Launch Celebration of “Labor Rights Week” as Labor Day 2009 Approaches

Local Unions Partner with Mexican Consulate in Thirteen Cities to Offer
Innovative Worker Rights Programming

(Chicago, Ill.) – The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) is proud to partner with the Embassy of Mexico, the U.S. Department of Labor and allied organizations to promote the first “Semana de Derechos Laborales”, or Labor Rights Week.  UFCW International President Joe Hansen joined the Mexican Consul General of Chicago, Manuel Rodríguez Arriaga, to launch the national outreach and education program that is taking place in thirteen cities across the country.

As Labor Day 2009 approaches, Semana de Derechos Laborales, which continues through September 4, will focus on the inclusion of Mexican nationals in American workplaces and communities. Programming includes workshops and informational sessions on labor, immigration, and human rights.

“Our communities and neighborhoods are better, safer places to work and live when all workers know and exercise their rights,” said Hansen.  “Semana de Derechos Laborales is a perfect way to empower Mexican national workers with information and promote full participation in the civic fabric of our nation.  The UFCW has been a union of immigrants for more than 100 years and this weeks’ program helps ensure that a new generation of workers has the resources to have their voice heard on the job.”

Educating immigrant workforces about rights in the workplace helps raise the standard of treatment for all workers in industries where new immigrants often work, including meatpacking, food processing, and grocery.

“In the past few years, a growing number of immigrant workers were subject to abuse under a mantle of fear that was created by policy approaches which allowed unscrupulous employers to use immigration status to threaten deportation if workers reported discrimination, wage and hour or health and safety violations. We recognize the leadership of Secretary Solis in this issue and believe that joint efforts like the Labor Rights Week will strengthen our ability to protect the rights of our nationals abroad”, said Mexican Ambassador Arturo Sarukhan.

The UFCW is a proud partner in this week’s activities and has worked with local consulate offices to prepare activities uniquely suited to the communities in which they are offered.  The program in Fresno, California, conducted by the local consulate and UFCW Local 5 will focus outreach to workers in the agricultural and dairy industries.  UFCW Local 540 and local partners in Dallas, Texas, are taking questions about labor rights on a three-hour long news broadcast program on the local Univision network.  The kick-off event in Chicago, Illinois will feature President Hansen and Consul General Rodríguez Arriaga, who will be joined by a number of community leaders.

More details about local events are available at www.ufcw.org

The UFCW has been a national leader in the fight to develop a fairer, more humane immigration system. President Hansen recently served as founding chairman of a national commission which studied federal raids on workplaces and made recommendations for comprehensive immigration reform.

Earlier this year, UFCW Canada and the Mexican state of Michoacán signed a landmark co-operation agreement to ensure that the human and labor rights of agricultural workers from Michoacán, Mexico are recognized and enforced while they work in Canadian fields and greenhouses.

With 1.3 million members, the UFCW is the nation’s largest private-sector union with members in the supermarket, meatpacking, food processing, and other industries.

-30-

Programming open to the media will continue until September 4. Inquiries and interview requests should be directed to Jill Cashen, UFCW, 202-728-4797 or press@ufcw.org.

“This settlement just confirms what so many of us have known for a long time,” said Carlos Barraza, a ten-year Plumrose worker. “It’s long past time for change at Plumrose. The only way we’ll get a real voice on the job here is by exercising our rights and standing together.”

The settlement requires Plumrose to post a notice in its Council Bluffs facility informing employees that federal law protects their right to form a union for their “benefit and protection” and that it would be unlawful for Plumrose to interfere with the exercise of that right. The full text of the notice can be found at http://www.fairnessforfoodworkers.org/plumrose.pdf

“Plumrose is a textbook case on why workers need a free and fair process to form a union,”" said Mark Lauritsen, Director of the UFCW Manufacturing, Packing, and Food Processing Division. “Standing up for yourself and your coworkers shouldn’t carry the risk of the boss’s wrath or losing your job. The employees who are forced to work in such a hostile environment hope that this settlement represents a new attitude at Plumrose toward the free exercise of the right to form a union.”

More than 1.3 million food processing, grocery, and retail workers in the United States and Canada have joined together in the UFCW to protect their workplace rights and to improve working conditions.

“We have seen federal agents routinely violate the 4th Amendment rights of workers during massive workplace raids across the country,” said Mark Lauritsen, UFCW International Vice President.  “Until national leaders fix our country’s immigration system, our local communities will be torn apart, and the constitutional rights of citizens and legal residents will be routinely violated. Our country desperately requires a framework for moving forward, humanely and comprehensively, to fix our immigration system. Broken enforcement is exacerbating a broken immigration system.  We stand with the Phoenix community to question whether local police officers will be able to enforce immigration laws without exposing the city residents to racial profiling, discrimination and violating civil rights.”

Among those who spoke at the meeting were UFCW workers who—one year ago, on December 12, 2006 (the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a Mexican religious celebration)—were illegally detained at meatpacking plants in five states in workplace raids carried out by federal agents at Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). More than 12,000 meatpacking workers—including citizens, legal residents and immigrants in the process of legalization—were swept up in ICE raids at six meat packing plants. The UFCW represents workers at five of the plants, including Worthington, Minn.; Greeley, Colo.; Cactus, Tex.; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Grand Island, Neb.

“It is disgraceful how law enforcement officials violate basic human rights just because our government cannot fix the immigration system,” said Maria Acosta of Phoenix, who works at Food City grocery store.

“I was interrogated and detained for hours just because federal agents thought I was breaking immigration laws,” said Pasqual Talamantes, a UFCW meatpacking worker from Grand Island, Neb. “They were handcuffing us and holding guns. I told them I was a citizen, born here in the United States, and they did not believe me.”

# # #

For more information: www.ufcw.org/icemisconduct.cfm

WASHINGTON

The report, Raids on Workers: Destroying Our Rights, offers a critical analysis of one of the central components of the Bush Administration’s immigration strategy and provides a detailed account of how heavy handed enforcement tactics led to systemic abuse of workers’ rights and a willful disregard for the rule of law.

“This commission was formed to examine allegations of abuse and misconduct by ICE agents during the course of immigration raids,” said Joseph T. Hansen, founding chairman of the commission and president of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW). “What we have uncovered is that during the Bush Administration ICE agents repeatedly trampled on innocent workers’ constitutional rights. These were not isolated incidents, but systemic problems that occurred in almost every region of the country. No government agency is above the law, and no worker should have to face the mistreatment and misconduct that these hardworking men and women were subjected to under the Bush Administration.”

The Commission, which is made up of former elected officials, labor leaders, academics, civil rights leaders and immigration and legal experts, spent more than a year holding regional hearings, interviewing witnesses and soliciting input from a wide range of workers, elected officials, policy experts, psychologists, and religious and community leaders.

The result is the most expansive analysis of the Bush Administration’s use of workplace raids and its total failure to address the wider problems of our nation’s broken immigration system.

Upon its creation, the commissioners set out to achieve the following objectives:

• Conduct hearings on allegations of ICE abuse and misconduct in locations across the country;
• Hear from workers and their families on the impact of ICE raids;
• Hear testimony from community leaders, academics, constitutional experts and the business community;
• Inform the public and elected officials;
• Issue a report on the findings with a plan of action to protect workers’ constitutional rights from any future abuse;

At each hearing, clear patterns began to emerge regarding the tactics used by ICE agents and how the procedures used by these officials were compromising the rights of workers.

The testimony the Commission received revealed several disturbing patterns:

• U.S. Citizens and Legal Permanent Residents detained for hours unable to leave even after establishing their status
• A lack of coordination by ICE with state and local labor and child welfare agencies
• Violations of the Fourth Amendment, which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures
• The use of massive amounts of taxpayer resources and personnel to administer civil warrants
• Repeated incidents of racial profiling and harassment
• The human toll of immigration enforcement, including family separation and children left without proper care
• Lasting economic and psychological devastation of communities and families in the aftermath of workplace and community raids

In addition to examining the impact of the raids, the Commission’s report lays out a clear path to a sensible, legal, and effective immigration enforcement policy that is consistent with the following objectives:

• Target enforcement at criminal employers who abuse the immigration system and exploit an undocumented workforce;
• Coordinate enforcement with the Department of Labor to protect workers and preserve their rights before any possible detention or processing;
• Treat workers and their families with respect so they will be more inclined to assist in the prosecution of criminal employers, and to build trust between law enforcement and the community;
• Vigorous oversight over ICE’s activities;
• Stronger enforcement of existing federal labor laws;
• Coordinated humanitarian efforts in the wake of workplace enforcement actions;
• Enhancement of legal protections against abuse.

The Commission report also emphasized the need for passage of meaningful comprehensive immigration reform legislation – and concluded that piecemeal immigration proposals would never solve the underlying issues. The report lays out a series of elements that should be included in immigration reform legislation, including a path to earned legalization, family unification and stronger sanctions of employers that break the law.

“This report was written to ensure that there is an historical account of the Bush administration’s actions, so that former government officials cannot whitewash history,” added Hansen. “It also represents an opportunity to start a national discussion about immigration, worker rights and our core values as a nation. We hope to use this report – and its recommendations – to jumpstart a new dialogue with Congress and with the American public—about an immigration system that works for America’s workers.”

>>> Click here to download a copy of the report

>>> Click here to listen to the release

“This announcement marks an important shift in policy that will end the heavy handed, headline-grabbing tactics that were the hallmark of the Bush administration.

“It is clear that the Bush administration used workplace raids as an attempt to cover up its failure to address the broader challenge of addressing the root causes of our broken immigration system. The result was workplace raids that led to clear Constitutional violations, including the detention of U.S. citizens, as well as the devastation and destruction of innocent families and communities.

“The announcement today is an important step in the right direction. It creates a system that will punish bad employers. It will help ensure that businesses that try to game the system, exploit vulnerable workers or attempt to drive down wages and working conditions are held accountable.

“But, as President Obama has said, we cannot address immigration reform in a piecemeal fashion, we must do it comprehensively. Enforcement is only one part of this issue.

“Change to Win and the AFL-CIO recently unveiled an immigration framework that will address all of the interconnecting parts of this complicated issue. We look forward to working closely with Congress and the Obama administration to pass an immigration system that works for America’s workers, and that upholds the values of our nation.

“We are a nation that respects hard work, family and the pursuit of the American Dream. Our immigration system must hold true to these principles.”

Si la legislación que fue aprobada por la Cámara de Representantes de los Estados Unidos—H.R. 4437—entra en vigor, tendrá el efecto de criminalizar y convertir los inmigrantes en chivos expiatorios de las fallas de la política previa del gobierno.

La combinación del fracaso del sistema de inmigración y una política de comercio sin estándares para proteger los trabajadores ha dejado las corporaciones crear un grupo de trabajadores que son explotables. De hecho, el sistema de inmigración ha sido privatizado por los empleadores estadounidenses de una manera que atrae inmigrantes al país para explotarlos y reducir los sueldos y condiciones de trabajo de todos los trabajadores—especialmente los que ya reciben salarios bajos.

Miles de personas están participando en demostraciones en el país hoy, así como hicieron hace 21 días. En Lumberton, N.C., miles de trabajadores—nativos e inmigrantes—van a manifestarse para reclamar los derechos de los inmigrantes.

La UFCW es un movimiento de inmigrantes. Hemos estado luchando para organizar, representar y mejorar los sueldos y condiciones de trabajo para los trabajadores inmigrantes por décadas. El empaquetado de carne y el procesamiento de alimentos fueron algunas de las primeras industrias que utilizaron la mano de obra de inmigrantes. Hace 100 años, inmigrantes polacos, italianos y sur europeos inundaron las plantas empacadoras de este país. Hoy en día, los inmigrantes de Asia, Latino América, Europea del Oeste, y África trabajan en las líneas del procesamiento de carne y alimentos.

La reforma de la política migratoria tiene que ser comprensiva. Una política migratoria que es constructiva legalizaría los millones de trabajadores inmigrantes que ya están contribuyendo a nuestra economía y sociedad, a la vez que protegería los salarios y condiciones de trabajo de todos los trabajadores—algo menos que eso lastima a todos los trabajadores.

Para mayores informes contacte a Andrea Nill al (202)-466-1591 o Luis Espinosa al 202-368-7154 o a press@ufcw.org

• Declaraciones de UFCW–Viaje de Libertad de los Trabajadores Inmigrantes

La unión más grande del sector privado y la organización de trabajadores con más integrantes en la industria alimentaría, United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), con 1.4 millones de miembros; se está movilizando para proteger los derechos de los obreros inmigrantes, quienes conforman en la actualidad la mayoría de la fuerza laboral en gran parte de la industria del procesamiento de carnes y alimentos de los Estados Unidos.

Los miembros y líderes de la UFCW están “”montándose en el autobús”" para integrar la Marcha de la Libertad para los Trabajadores Inmigrantes, que tendrá lugar en las ciudades de Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, Minneapolis, Houston y Chicago.

“”Estamos llevando un mensaje de esperanza a los trabajadores inmigrantes. Ellos son los que ponen en marcha la maquinaria de los Estados Unidos-el trabajo más duro, el más peligroso, el que lleva los alimentos a la mesa de las familias americanas. Creemos que quienes hacen ese trabajo se han ganado la oportunidad de un estatus legal, un salario decente, y el respeto a sus derechos. Estamos exhortando a los Estados Unidos para que reconozcan la contribución de algunos de sus trabajadores más valiosos”", afirmó Doug Dority, presidente de la UFCW.

La UFCW ha estado organizando agresivamente a los obreros de la industria empacadora de carnes por espacio de más de tres décadas. Primero fueron los refugiados del sudeste asiático en los años setenta, ochenta y noventa, y luego a los latinoamericanos y afroamericanos en la actualidad. La UFCW ha luchado incesantemente para abrirles las puertas al sueño americano a una nueva generación de inmigrantes. Hace un siglo, los inmigrantes centroamericanos y del sur de Europa se esforzaron y lucharon en la industria empacadora de carne, como denunciara el escritor Upton Sinclair en su novela “”La Jungla.”" Increíblemente, en estos tiempos los trabajadores de las plantas no sindicalizadas tienen que enfrentar condiciones que superan en rigor a las de hace cien años, con un aumento en los índices de lesionados, la exigencia de una gran productividad, así como el pago de bajísimos salarios.

“”Los empleadores explotan sin piedad a los trabajadores inmigrantes, quienes en ocasiones no conocen los derechos que les asisten en el centro de trabajo, y viven en un temor constante a la deportación. Si bien el gobierno no puede impedir con efectividad que los empleadores contraten e importen trabajadores inmigrantes con el único propósito de la explotación económica, si puede reprimirlos en su lucha contra la explotación, permitiendo que sus empleadores los amenacen con emprender acciones ante las autoridades de inmigración. Para proteger las normas mínimas en los centros de trabajo de los Estados Unidos, debemos legalizar y organizar a los obreros inmigrantes, y así poner coto al abuso generalizado de sus derechos como trabajadores”", añadió Dority.

La Marcha de la Libertad para los Trabajadores Inmigrantes está inspirada en la experiencia de los movimientos por los derechos civiles en los años sesenta. Con la construcción de puentes hacia una comunidad más amplia, y tomando fuerza de las luchas del pasado, se vinculan a los inmigrantes de hoy a una red de apoyo que puede movilizar el poder social y político para abrirle los ojos, conmover su corazón, y cambiar las leyes estadounidenses para lograr el reconocimiento de los derechos de los trabajadores inmigrantes.

Las actividades de la UFCW se llevarán a cabo con paradas en Omaha, Nebraska, y Fayetteville, Carolina del Norte.

La concentración en Omaha estará dedicada a un esfuerzo de organización en la comunidad y la industria local de empaque de carne. Desde la organización de ligas de fútbol a la de uniónes, los activistas de la UFCW están construyendo un modelo para dar poder a los trabajadores inmigrantes y ganar el apoyo de la comunidad. El gobernador republicano de Nebraska respondió a tal esfuerzo con la proclamación de una “”Declaración de Derechos”" que beneficia a los obreros de la industria empacadora de carnes. Tal esfuerzo ha llevado a la organización y a un contrato sindical para los trabajadores inmigrantes en tres plantas locales de Omaha.

Los contratos para inmigrantes conseguidos por la UFCW han producido progresos tangibles en las vidas de los trabajadores, incluyendo aumentos de salario y seguros costeables de salud para las familias.

Dichos contratos también protegen a los inmigrantes de despidos injustos; de la discriminación basada en su estatus migratorio, y les dan representación y arbitraje imparcial para proteger sus derechos.

Además, establecen fondos multiculturales que brindan recursos para programas como los de adiestramiento en español para medidas de seguridad del trabajo, y clases de inglés como segundo idioma.

“”Todos los trabajadores tienen interés en poner fin a la explotación de los obreros inmigrantes. Si los empleadores pueden violar impunemente los derechos de cualquier trabajador, estarán en capacidad de explotar a todos los obreros por igual. Los trabajadores inmigrantes son víctimas de un sistema que quiere su trabajo, pero al mismo tiempo les niega el derecho y la compensación por su labor. Ese no es el método americano. Cuando los autobuses hagan su parada en Nueva York, el trabajo volverá a despertar la llama en la antorcha de la Estatua de la Libertad, para iluminar el camino a los derechos humanos para esta generación de inmigrantes”", aseguró Dority.

La UFCW ha estado luchando incesantemente en contra de la discriminación en los centros de trabajo que afecta a los obreros inmigrantes. Con una subvención del Departamento de Justicia de los Estados Unidos, la institución produjo un video premiado en español, titulado “”Acuérdense Siempre de Sus Derechos”" (Always Know Your Rights), para ayudar a los trabajadores a protegerse contra los abusos por parte de sus empleadores. Para obtener copias del video, debe enviar un mensaje electrónico a la dirección press@ufcw.org

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Immigrant Workers Put Food on the Table for America’s Families

> En Español

> UFCW Statement on Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride

The nation’s largest private sector union and the largest workers’ organization in the food industry, the 1.4 million member United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW), is mobilizing to protect the rights of immigrant workers who now comprise the majority of the workforce in much of America’s meat and food processing industry.

UFCW members and leaders are “”getting on the bus”" for the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, Minneapolis, Houston, and Chicago.

“”We are bringing a message of hope to immigrant workers. The workers who are doing America’s work— the hard work— the dangerous work— the work that puts food on the dinner table for America’s families. We believe, that if you do the work, you’ve earned the opportunity for legal status, a living wage and respect for your rights. We are calling on America to recognize the contribution of some its most valuable workers,”" said UFCW President Doug Dority.

The UFCW has been aggressively organizing immigrant workers in the meatpacking industry for more than three decades. From Southeast Asian refugees during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s to Latin American and African immigrants of today, the UFCW has been fighting to open the door to the American dream for a new generation of immigrants. A century ago, immigrants from Central and Southern Europe sweated and struggled in the meatpacking industry as chronicled in Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. Today, in non-union plants, conditions rival those of a century ago with high injury rates, high turnover and low wages.

“”Employers ruthlessly exploit immigrant workers, who often have no understanding of workplace rights and who live in constant fear of deportation. While the government cannot effectively stop employers from recruiting and importing immigrant workers solely for the purpose of economic exploitation, the government does effectively suppress these workers in the struggle against exploitation through allowing employers’ to threaten INS enforcement action against them. To protect American workplace standards, we must legalize and organize immigrant workers to stop the widespread abuse of worker rights,”" according to Dority.

The Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride draws on the experience of the civil rights movement of the 1960s. Building bridges to the broader community and drawing strength from the struggles of the past connects today’s immigrants to a support network that can mobilize the social and political power to open the eyes, move the heart and change the laws of America to recognize the rights of immigrant workers.

UFCW activities are featured at stops in Omaha, Nebraska, and Fayetteville. North Carolina.

A rally in Omaha will focus on a community-wide, industry-wide organizing effort in the area’s meatpacking industry. From organizing soccer leagues to organizing unions, community and UFCW activists are building a model for empowering immigrant workers and winning community support. Nebraska’s Republican Governor responded to the effort with a proclamation of a “”Bill of Rights”" for meatpacking workers. The effort has led to organization and a union contract for immigrant workers at three Omaha area plants.

UFCW contracts for immigrant workers have produced tangible improvements in workers’ lives including wage increases and affordable, family health insurance. Union contracts also:

> protect immigrant workers from unfair firings;

> protect workers from discrimination based immigration status; and,

> provide workers with representation and impartial arbitration to protect their rights.

The contracts also establish multi-cultural funds that provide resources for programs such as safety training in Spanish and English as a second language classes.

According to Dority, “”Every worker has an interest in stopping the exploitation of immigrant workers. If employers can get away violating the rights of any worker, they will soon be able to exploit all workers. Immigrant workers are the victims in a system that wants their labor, but would at the same time deny them the rights and rewards of their work. That’s not the American way. When the buses stop in New York, the work begins to re-ignite the flame on the Statue of Liberty to light the way to human rights for this generation of immigrants.”"

The UFCW has been fighting back against workplace discrimination against immigrant workers. With a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, the UFCW produced an award- winning Spanish-language video, “”Acuérdense Siempre de Sus Derechos”" (Always Know Your Rights), to help workers protect themselves against employer abuse. Copies of the video are available by emailing press@ufcw.org

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Legislation passed by the U.S. House of Representatives—H.R. 4437—would criminalize and scapegoat immigrant workers for failed U.S. policies.

The combination of America’s broken immigration system and a trade policy devoid of worker standards has allowed corporations to create an international labor pool of exploitable workers.   In fact, the U.S.immigration system has been hijacked and privatized by American employers that lure immigrants to this country both to exploit them and drive down wages and working conditions for all workers–especially in low-wage jobs.

We are an immigrant movement. The UFCW has been fighting to organize, represent, and improve wages and working conditions for immigrant workers for decades. Meatpacking and food processing were among the first industries to utilize immigrant labor. A hundred years ago, Polish, Italian, and Southern European immigrants poured into the nation’s packing plants. Today, immigrants from Asia, Latin America, Eastern Europe, and Africa  work the processing lines of the packing industry.

Immigration reform must be comprehensive. A constructive immigration policy would respect and provide a legalization process for the millions of immigrant workers already contributing to our economy and society, while protecting wages and workplace protections for all workers—anything less hurts all workers.

“”Nosotros hemos estado negociando desde el octubre pasado,”" dijo el presidente de UFCW Local 1142, Warren Baker. “”Las negociaciones fueron bastantes contenciosas. Siempre hay toma y daca, pero, al final, llegamos a un compromiso justo.”"

El nuevo contrato:

–Establece aumentos de salario, incluyendo un aumentos de $1.50/hr del salario base durante la vigencia del contrato para los trabajadores de producción y $1/65/hr del salario base para los trabajadores de mantenimiento.

–Mantiene seguro médico asequible, sin un aumento de prima de seguro durante la primera y última mitad del contrato. Aumentos semanales de $1.50 para cada individuo y $3 para la cubertura familiar ocurrirán el segundo, tercer y cuarto año del contrato.

–Mantiene la seguridad de las pensiones

–Aumenta el pago por concepto de licencia por enfermedad

–Mejora las condiciones de trabajo

“”El contrato es muy bueno con respecto al seguro médico,”" dijo Gary Petz, quien ha trabajado en la planta por 23 años. “”En conjunto, los buenos aumentos de salario y beneficios son el resultado de la unificación de todos los trabajadores por un contrato que asegura la seguridad de nuestras familias.”"

“”El testimonio el día de hoy produjo una clara y hasta trágica evidencia de la amplia devastación que estas redadas migratorias han causado en los trabajadores, sus familias, comunidades y las economías locales”", señaló Joseph T. Hansen, presidente fundador de la Comisión Nacional y presidente de la Unión de Trabajadores Comerciales y de Alimentos (UFCW, por sus siglas en inglés). “”El hecho que las heridas emocionales y económicas infligidas por los agentes de ICE siguen tan latentes, y el hecho que todavía hay muchas preguntas sin resolver mucho tiempo después que sucedieron estas redadas, resaltan la importancia de que se responsabilice a esta agencia gubernamental por sus acciones”".

Julie L. Myers, secretaria adjunta de ICE, declinó una invitación a testificar ante esta comisión.

La audiencia en Boston es parte de una serie de reuniones públicas regionales de esta comisión que tienen el propósito de investigar la ejecución de las redadas migratorias en los lugares de trabajo y las implicaciones y ramificaciones que éstas producen en las comunidades locales. Esta comisión también investigará quejas que culpan al ICE de ejecutar acciones en violación de la cuarta enmienda de la Constitución de los Estados Unidos. Después de concluir con esta ardua investigación, la comisión publicará un reporte público en el que señalará los resultados y hará recomendaciones para reformar el sistema.

“”Mientras nuestra comisión viaja alrededor del país y habla cada vez con más trabajadores y expertos, estamos encontrando patrones preocupantes de abuso que se repiten”", añadió Hansen. “”Esta comisión continuará en su búsqueda agresiva de los hechos y asegurará que éstos obtengan un despliegue completo y público”".

La comisión fue creada en respuesta a las redadas realizadas en las plantas procesadoras de carnes en los estados centrales de los Estados Unidos hace dos años. El 12 de diciembre de 2006, miles de trabajadores inocentes fueron detenidos en diferentes procesadoras de carne en seis estados durante redadas migratorias perpetradas por agentes federales del ICE. La UFCW representa trabajadores en cinco de estas plantas, incluyendo Worthington, Minn.; Greeley, Colo.; Cactus, Tex.; Marshalltown, Iowa; y Grand Island, Neb.

El 12 de septiembre de 2007, la UFCW enjuició al Departamento de Seguridad Doméstica (DHS, por sus siglas en inglés) y al ICE con la intención de proteger los derechos que le otorga la cuarta enmienda de la Constitución a todos los estadounidenses y, al mismo tiempo, evitar que el gobierno ilegalmente arreste y detenga a trabajadores, incluyendo a ciudadanos de los Estados Unidos y residentes legales, mientras se encuentren en sus lugares de trabajo.

La comisión está integrada por un amplio grupo de expertos en leyes que incluye al ex gobernador de Iowa, Tom Vilsack. La comisión organizó su primera audiencia en Washington, D.C. el 25 de febrero de 2008. Las siguientes audiencias se realizarán en Des Moines, Iowa el 29 de abril de 2008 y en Atlanta, Georgia el 29 de mayo de 2008.

Las comisiones lideradas por civiles han desempeñado un papel importante en la historia de los Estados Unidos. Cuando estaban arrestando, matando y golpeando a los Afro-Americanos durante el movimiento de los derechos civiles, estas tragedias conllevaron a la formación de la Comisión McCone en 1965 y a la Comisión Nacional de Consejería en 1968.

Cuando los japoneses-americanos estaban siendo sometidos a los campos intermitentes durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial, la Comisión de la Mudanza por la Guerra y de la Intermitencia de Civiles fue establecida para investigar estas violaciones inaceptables de derechos civiles.

Paneles de ciudadanos son creados frecuentemente para ayudar a vigorizar el compromiso a los derechos garantizados por la Constitución de los Estados Unidos, especialmente cuando éstos son violados por la brutalidad de la policía local.

“”The testimony today provided compelling and often heartbreaking evidence of the widespread devastation that immigration raids have inflicted on workers, their families, communities and local economies,”" said Joseph T. Hansen, founding chairman of the National Commission and United Food & Commercial Workers (UFCW) International Union president. “”The fact that so many of the emotional and economic wounds inflicted by ICE agents remain so raw, and the fact that so many questions remain unanswered long after the raids, makes ensuring accountability for these questionable actions by a government agency that much more important.”"

The head of ICE, Julie L. Myers, was invited to testify, but declined to appear before the commission.

The hearing in Boston is part of a series of regional public meetings that the commission is holding to explore the execution, implications and ramifications of workplace immigration enforcement on local communities. The commission will also look into claims that ICE has engaged in violations of the 4th amendment. After a thorough investigation, the commission will produce a public report that highlights its findings and makes recommendations about how the system should be reformed.

“”As our commission travels the country and talks to more and more workers and experts, we are seeing troubling and repeated patterns of misconduct emerging,”" Hansen added. “”This commission will continue to aggressively pursue the facts and will ensure that they get a full and complete public airing. “”

The commission was created in response to a raid that took place at meatpacking plants in America’s heartland two years ago. On December 12, 2006, thousands of innocent workers were detained at meatpacking plants in six states during workplace raids carried out by federal ICE agents. The UFCW represents workers at five of the plants, including Worthington, Minn.; Greeley, Colo.; Cactus, Tex.; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Grand Island, Neb.

On September 12, 2007, the UFCW filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and ICE to protect the 4th amendment rights of all Americans and enjoin the government from illegally arresting and detaining workers, including U.S. citizens and legal residents, while at their workplace.

A broad group of leading policy experts serves on the commission, including former Governor of Iowa Tom Vilsack. The commission held its first hearing in Washington, D.C. on February 25, 2008. Future hearings are scheduled in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 29, 2008 and in Atlanta, Ga., on May 29, 2008.

Civilian-driven commissions have played an important role in U.S. history. When African-Americans were arrested, beaten and killed during the civil rights movement, the tragedies fueled the McCone Commission in 1965 and the National Advisory Commission in 1968.

When Japanese-Americans were sent to internment camps during World War II, the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians was established to investigate these unacceptable civil rights violations.

Citizen review panels are often created to help renew a commitment to rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, especially when those rights are violated by local police brutality.

Visit www.icemisconduct.org for more information.

La corte decidió en favor del derecho de los trabajadores a hacerse miembros de la Unión de Trabajadores Comerciales y de Alimentos (UFCW) por medio de su reafirmación del principio antiguo que dicta que todos los trabajadores, aún los sin documentos, tienen el derecho de votar por una unión y negociar colectivamente.  La compañía se negó a negociar después que la mayoría de sus trabajadores en su centro de distribución votaron por la unión en septiembre del 2005.

Agriprocessors mantuvo que, aunque la compañía los contrató, muchos de estos trabajadores no tenían documentos, y según Agrirprocessors, no tenían el derecho de votar o ser miembros de la unión.  La Junta Nacional de Relaciones del Trabajo también mandó contra Agriprocessors, manteniendo que cada empleado y empleada, sin importar se estatus migratorio, tiene el derecho de votar por una unión y negociar colectivamente.  Después de casi tres años, Agriprocessors perdió su apelación a esta decisión en la corte federal.

A pesar de esta decisión positiva, esto es simplemente otro ejemplo del fracaso de nuestro sistema de inmigración, y más que nada, el gran fiasco del proceso de verificación de empleo.  Las leyes migratorias deben complementar, no socavar, la aplicación de las leyes laborales y de empleo.  De lo contrario, los sueldos, beneficios, y condiciones laborales de todos los trabajadores se van a  degenerar.

“Las leyes laborales de los EEUU protegen todos los trabajadores y la UFCW no dejará una compañía dirigir sus negocios fuera de la ley y aprovecharse de sus empleados,” dijo Mark Lauritsen, vice-presidente internacional y director de la División de Procesamiento, Empacado y Manufactura de Alimentos de la UFCW.  “El tribunal apelativo ha mandado un mensaje firme a Agriprocessors y otros empleadores que crean que ellos pueden ignorar la ley y negar sus trabajadores una voz por un lugar de trabajo más seguro y mejores trabajos.”

Agriprocessors es una de las compañías kosher más grandes de la nación.  La compañía produce productos bajo las siguientes marcas: Aaron’s Best, Aaron’s Choice, European Glatt, Iowa Best Beef, Nevel, Shor Harbor , Rubashkin’s, Supreme Kosher, and David’s.

Each year, tens of thousands of high performing children of immigrants who were raised in the United States—including honor role students, star athletes, and aspiring teachers, doctors, lawyers and U.S. soldiers—graduate from high school.  Despite their academic achievements, they are effectively barred from contributing fully to our communities.

America cannot afford to turn its back on an educated class of promising students who have demonstrated a commitment to hard work and a strong desire to be upstanding members of our society.  Our current immigration policy has real human costs, and the UFCW will continue to fight for immigration reform that ensures that America’s workers and their children are able to improve their lives and realize the American Dream.

______________________________________________________________________________

Washington, D.C:–La Unión de Trabajadores Comerciales y de Alimentos (UFCW por sus siglas en inglés), buscaron hoy la intervención judicial para proteger los derechos constitucionales de la cuarta enmienda de todos los trabajadores y prohibir la detención de trabajadores, incluyendo ciudadanos de Estados Unidos y residentes legales en sus lugares de trabajo por parte del gobierno.

La demanda—presentada en la Corte de Distrito de los Estados Unidos de América para el Distrito de Texas—identifica al Departamento de Seguridad Nacional de EEUU (DHS por sus siglas en inglés) y la Agencia del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de Estados Unidos (ICE por sus siglas en inglés) como los acusados.  La demanda exige un  requerimiento judicial inmediato contra las redadas excesivas, ilegales e innecesarias en los lugares de trabajo llevadas acabo por los agentes de ICE.

“El propósito de esta demanda es asegurar que los trabajadores sean protegidos y que sus derechos constitucionales sean respetados,” dijo Joe Hansen, el Presidente Internacional de la UFCW en una conferencia de prensa anunciando la demanda.  “Es inconcebible que nuestro gobierno acorrale  cientos, a veces miles, de trabajadores inocentes en un esfuerzo por aprehender sólo unos pocos individuos.”

Más de 12,000 trabajadores empacadores de carne—incluyendo ciudadanos, residentes legales e inmigrantes en el proceso de legalización—fueron recogidos por las redadas de ICE el 12 de diciembre de 2006 en seis plantas empacadores de carne por todo el país.  La UFCW representa trabajadores en cinco de las plantas, incluyendo Worthington, Minn.; Greeley, Colo.; Cactus, Tex.; Marshalltown, Iowa; y Grand Island, Neb.  A pesar de la demostración de fuerza sin precedentes, injustificada y excesiva, sólo 65 trabajadores fueron acusados del robo de identidad.

La querella legal sostiene que durante las redadas de 12 de diciembre, a los trabajadores se les negó el acceso a teléfonos, abogados y hasta el uso de los baños.  Ciudadanos y residentes fueron privados de la oportunidad de salir a traer los documentos que confirmaban su estatus legal.  Algunos trabajadores fueron esposados.  Otros fueron transportados en autobuses a otros lugares.  Las familias, escuelas, y guarderías infantiles no pudieron ser contactadas para hacer planes para el cuidado de los niños de los trabajadores detenidos.  Familias fueron divididas—sin saber dónde o cuándo tendrían la oportunidad de ver sus familiares desaparecidos.

“Cuando traté de ir a la cafetería durante la redada, los agentes de ICE me acusaron de haber intentado a escapar. Me esposaron.  Soy un ciudadano de Estados Unidos, nacido en Iowa.  Mis padres viven en Mississippi.  Mi gobierno me trató como un criminal y no hice nada malo.  Sabía que estaban violando nuestros derechos.  Lo que están haciendo en estas redadas es ilegal,” dijo Mike Graves, quien ha vivido en Estados Unidos toda su vida y trabaja en la planta de Swift and Company en Marshalltown, Iowa, y es un miembro de la UFCW Local 1149.

Peter Schey, Presidente del Centro de Derechos Humanos y Derecho Constitucional, basado en Los Angeles, y abogado principal de la demanda de la UFCW declaró que “el DHS viola la constitución y la ley federal de manera rutinaria al realizar detenciones masivas de trabajadores sin bases para pensar que han violado alguna ley cuando lleva acabo redadas en el trabajo para detectar trabajadores indocumentados. Este tipo de detenciones masivas han sido consideradas ilegales por las cortes de los EEUU desde hace mucho. Aun cuando el DHS tiene la función legitima de hacer cumplir las leyes de la nación, no puede hacerlo por hacerlo sin respetar los derechos constitucionales de los ciudadanos y residentes legales. Si el Secretario Chertoff no quiere o no puede detener la conducta anticonstitucional de sus agentes, entonces estamos seguros que los tribunales federales lo harán.”

La demanda también incluye una queja que los abogados y representantes de la unión no fueron otorgados el pronto acceso a los miembros de la UFCW durante y inmediatamente después de las redadas.  En muchos casos, los abogados de la unión fueron negados el acceso a los miembros de la UFCW, una violación rotunda del derecho que los trabajadores tienen al consejo legal.

“Trabajar no es un crimen.  Los trabajadores no son criminales. Nuestros derechos constitucionales no se dejan en la puerta de la planta,” dijo el presidente Hansen.  “Infligir este tipo de aplicación de la ley a trabajadores inocentes –arrestar y detener ilegalmente una cantidad masiva de personas contra su voluntad y tratarlas como criminales—eso no sólo es inaceptable, sino también no corresponde con los valores nacionales.”

La UFCW espera que miembros de la unión y los grupos religiosos, de derechos civiles y de derechos migratorios presenten un escrito de amicus curiae como parte de la demanda de la UFCW.

Además de la acción legal colectiva anunciada hoy, la UFCW continuará a llevar a cabo audiencias por todo el país para investigar y denunciar las acciones punitivas contra las familias trabajadoras.  La UFCW también presionará el congreso a llevar a cabo una audiencia sobre este tema y a reformar las leyes migratorias

UFCW suit challenges punitive immigration raids and
claims violation of 4th Amendment rights

Washington, D.C., —The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), today, sought court intervention to protect the 4th Amendment rights of all Americans and enjoin the government from illegally arresting and detaining workers including U.S. citizens and legal residents while at their workplace.

The lawsuit—filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas—names the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency as defendants. The suit calls for an injunction against the excessive, illegal and unnecessary worksite raids conducted by ICE agents.

“”This lawsuit is about ensuring that workers are protected and that their constitutional rights are respected,” said UFCW International President Joe Hansen at a press conference announcing the lawsuit. “”It is unconscionable that our government would round up hundreds, sometimes thousands, of innocent workers in an effort to target a few select individuals.”"

More than 12,000 meatpacking workers—including citizens, legal residents and immigrants in the process of legalization—were swept up in ICE raids on December 12, 2006, at six meat packing plants across the country. The UFCW represents workers at five of the plants including Worthington, Minn.; Greeley, Colo.; Cactus, Tex.; Marshalltown, Iowa; and Grand Island, Neb.  Despite this unprecedented, unwarranted and excessive use of force, only 65 workers were indicted for identity theft.

The legal complaint contends that during the December 12th raids workers were denied access to telephones, bathrooms and legal counsel. Citizens and legal residents also were deprived of the opportunity to retrieve documents to establish their legal status. Some workers were handcuffed. Others were shipped out on buses. Families, schools and daycare centers could not be contacted to make arrangements for the children of detained workers. Families were left divided and scared—not knowing where or when they might see a missing family member again.

“”When I tried to report to the cafeteria during the raid, ICE agents accused me of trying to run away. They held me in handcuffs. I’m a U.S. Citizen, born in Iowa. My parents live in Mississippi. My government treated me like a criminal, and I didn’t do anything wrong. I knew our rights were being violated. What they’re doing in these raids is illegal,”" said Mike Graves, who has lived in the United States his entire life, works at the Marshalltown, Iowa, Swift and Company plant, and is a member of  UFCW Local 1149.

Peter Schey, President of the Los Angeles-based Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law and the lead counsel in the UFCW litigation said, “The Department of Homeland Security routinely violates the Constitution and federal law when it conducts work place raids to detect undocumented workers by engaging in mass detentions of all workers without any basis for believing that they have violated any laws.  Such mass detentions have long been considered unlawful by the U.S. courts. While the Department of Homeland Security has a legitimate function to perform enforcing the nation’s immigration laws, it cannot do so by running roughshod over the well-established constitutional rights of U.S. citizens and lawful resident workers. If DHS Secretary Chertoff is unwilling or unable to stop the unconstitutional conduct of his agents, then we are sure the federal courts will step in to do so.”

The lawsuit also includes in its complaint that union lawyers and representatives were not given prompt access to UFCW members during and immediately after the raids. In many cases, union lawyers were denied access to UFCW members, a direct violation of a worker’s right to legal counsel.

“”Work is not a crime, and workers do not leave their constitutional rights at the plant gate,”" said Hansen. “”To inflict this kind of enforcement on innocent workers—to arrest and illegally detain massive numbers of people against their will, to treat them as criminals—is not just unacceptable, it is un-American.”

The UFCW expects members of the union, civil rights, religious, and immigrant rights communities to file amicus briefs on behalf of the UFCW suit.

In addition to the class-action lawsuit announced today, the UFCW will continue to hold field hearings across the country to investigate and expose these punitive actions against hardworking families. The UFCW also will press Congress to hold hearings into the issue and to renew its efforts to pass comprehensive immigration reform.

Click here for a pdf copy of Lawsuit

Click here for a pdf Immigration Raid Flyer

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Omaha, Neb.—Miembros de la Unión de Trabajadores Comerciales y de Alimentos (UFCW por sus siglas en inglés) se juntaron con grupos de la comunidad, lideres de los derechos civiles y activistas inmigrantes para condenar el abuso y la mala conducta por parte de los agentes del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas de Estados Unidos (ICE por sus siglas en inglés).  Por todo el país, los oficiales de ICE han utilizado la fuerza física injustificada para la detención ilegal de trabajadores en sus intentos a hacer cumplir con la política migratoria fracasada de los Estados Unidos.

La reunión nacional de hoy fue llevada a cabo para oír los testimonios de los trabajadores, muchos quienes fueron detenidos ilegalmente y contra su voluntad, a quienes se les negó el acceso a teléfonos, abogados y hasta el uso de los baños.

“La demostración excesiva de fuerza—conducta abusiva, y la indiferencia por los derechos y las familias de los trabajadores, suena más como algo de un país o una época lejana,” dijo el presidente de la UFCW Internacional Joe Hansen. “Desafortunadamente, ocurrieron en el centro de Estados Unidos durante nuestros tiempos.  Sucedió a los trabajadores de Estados Unidos—nuestros hermanos y hermanas.  Sucedió a nuestros compañeros americanos—los nativos y los inmigrantes.”

Durante las redadas, las familias, escuelas, y guarderías infantiles no pudieron ser contactadas para hacer planes para el cuidado de los niños de los trabajadores detenidos.  Familias fueron divididas—sin saber dónde o cuándo tendrían la oportunidad de ver sus familiares desaparecidos.

“Nuestra unión se está levantando para hablar sobre los derechos constitucionales de nuestros miembros,” dijo Hansen.  “Ellos fueron detenidos ilegalmente durante estas redadas de ICE.  Hemos vencido por décadas en la lucha por los derechos de los trabajadores y no nos vamos a quedar callados mientras los agentes federales les niegan sus derechos constitucionales de la cuarta enmienda.”

La UFCW organizó la Reunión Nacional Sobre la Mala Conducta de ICE y las Violaciones de los Derechos Constitucionales de la Cuarta Enmienda de hoy para unir las voces por todo el país y para colectar las historias de los trabajadores que sufrieron durante las redadas de ICE, además de planear una trayectoria de acción para responder a estos acontecimientos.

“Cuando traté de ir a la cafetería durante la redada, los agentes de ICE me acusaron de haber intentado a escapar. Me detuvieron en esposas.  Soy un ciudadano de Estados Unidos, nacido en Iowa.  Mis padres viven en Mississippi.  Mi gobierno me trató como un criminal y no hice nada malo.  Sabía que estaban violando nuestros derechos.  Lo que están haciendo en estas redadas es ilegal,” dijo Mike Graves, quien ha vivido en Estados Unidos toda su vida y trabaja en la planta de Swift and Company en Marshalltown, Iowa, y es un miembro de la UFCW Local 1149.

Más de 12,000 empacadores de carne fueron detenidos durante las redadas de ICE el 12 de diciembre del 2006.  Desde entonces, muchos trabajadores en otras industrias han sido arrestados y detenidos contra su voluntad y se les negó contacto con sus familias en otras redadas subsiguientes.  Millones de trabajadores quines son ciudadanos de Estados Unidos y residentes legales fueron afectados por estas redadas.

“Sólo unas pocas órdenes de detención que involucraron sólo una fracción del uno por ciento de los trabajadores detenidos durante las redadas fueron la justificación para la disrupción masiva del trabajo, familias y comunidad, además de la intimidación, miedo, y amenazas dirigidas a los trabajadores,” dijo Hansen.

“Los trabajadores fueron detenidos por agentes armados, acorralados y negados sistemáticamente sus derechos,” dijo Gabriela Flora, una organizadora en la región central del Project Voice of the American Friends Service Committee.  “A los trabajadores se les negó el acceso a teléfonos, baños, y consejo legal. Los ciudadanos y residentes fueron privados de la oportunidad de salir a traer los documentos que confirmaban su estatus legal.  Muchos no podían hacer planes para los niños y ancianos bajo su cuidado porque no podían hacer ningunas llamadas.  La indiferencia hacia los derechos constitucionales de la cuarta enmienda representa el fracaso de una de las responsabilidades principales de nuestro gobierno.”

“Los políticos no pueden tener un doble discurso.  No pueden continuar diciendo que nuestro sistema migratoria está quebrado y necesita ser reparado, y después insistir que se aplique la ley con medidas excesivas e ilegales que creen más problemas para todos—los trabajadores, las compañías, y las comunidades,” dijo Hansen.

La UFCW concluyó la reunión comunitaria nacional de hoy con la organización del “Grupo de Trabajo Nacional Sobre la Mala Conducta de ICE y la Violación de la Cuarta Enmienda Constitucional” designado para desarrollar une respuesta estratégica al incremento de las redadas por parte de ICE y otras acciones similares.  El grupo documentará lo que pasó a los miembros de la unión durante las redadas, revelar el abuso y la mala conducta de ICE y presentar la evidencia al Congreso.  El Grupo de Trabajo planea mostrar que las tácticas de ICE durante las redadas de diciembre del 2006 violaron las propias leyes del gobierno de Estados Unidos.  El Grupo va a coleccionar otros testimonios de otros lugares de trabajo donde ocurrieron redadas, y exigirán que los altos oficiales del gobierno federal se hacen responsables.

“Trabajar no es un crimen.  Los trabajadores no son criminales. Nuestros derechos constitucionales no se dejan en la puerta de la planta,” dijo el presidente Hansen.  “Las historias de los trabajadores que fueron víctimas de las redadas tienen que ser escuchadas.  Su experiencia debe servir como el fundamento de las audiencias del congreso.  Nuestros oficiales electos tienen que hacer algo para proteger nuestros derechos constitucionales de la cuarta enmienda en el lugar de trabajo.”
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Declaración ante la prensa en apoyo a la Employee Free Choice Act   Me llamo José Guardado y laboré por ocho años en la planta empacadora Nebraska Beef, en Omaha, Nebraska. Trabajaba en la sección de piso donde se sacrifica a los animales, a donde nos llegaban hasta 2,500 reses al día.

Vine a este país persiguiendo al sueño americano. Pensé que el en país más poderoso del mundo, los trabajadores podían expresarse libremente. Pensé que la ley protegía a los trabajadores que quieren formar una unión. Me equivoqué. En lugar de ello, me encontré que los patrones pueden violar las leyes, abusar de los trabajadores y acallar sus voces, y nadie hace nada para detenerlos.

Mis compañeros y yo queríamos tener una unión en el trabajo para oponernos a las condiciones de trabajo peligrosas, a la falta de respeto y los tratos abusivos. Todos firmamos tarjetas mostrando nuestro apoyo a la UFCW.

La ley no fue suficiente para detener la campaña que la empresa inició contra nosotros. La empresa aterró a los trabajadores que defendían sus derechos. Amenazaron con despedir a los trabajadores que apoyaran la unión, de llamar a la autoridad migratoria y deportar a las personas de origen latino y amenazaron con cerrar la planta. Prometieron reducir la velocidad de la línea y tratarnos mejor. El día de la votación la Nebraska Beef trajo un montón de trabajadores de otra empresa para que votaran contra la unión.

Los trabajadores tenían temor, nadie quería perder su empleo. La empresa ganó la votación por una diferencia muy pequeña. Volvieron a acelerar la línea y a nadie se le dio lo prometido.

Después, Nebraska Beef comenzó a despedir a cuantos apoyaban la unión. Sabía que estaban vigilando y esperando a que cometiera un error, por lo que puse mucho cuidado, sin embargo, la empresa me despidió. Mi seguro expiró semanas antes que me despidieran por lo que tuve que pagar mil dólares de mi bolsa para consultar el médico y pagar medicamentos. Mientras tanto la empresa restó 20 dólares de cada uno de mis tres últimos cheques de pago por concepto de seguro de salud, un seguro del cual carecía.

Esta empresa me arrebató los medios para ganarme la vida y lastimó a mi familia nada más para evitar que organizáramos una unión. Muchos otros trabajadores fueron despedidos o renunciaron porque tenían temor.

A la fecha, las y los trabajadores de la Nebraska Beef sufren de tratos abusivos e indignos, los mismos que existían antes de iniciar la campaña a favor de una unión. Se sigue amenazando y despidiendo a los trabajadores y no hay forma de tener una votación justa.

Necesitamos esta ley para proteger los derechos de las y los trabajadores. Necesitamos esta ley para ayudar a las y los trabajadores que quieren condiciones de trabajo más seguras y una vida mejor con la representación de la unión.

  ### La UFCW representa 1.4 millones de trabajadoras y trabajadores, 250 mil en las industrias empacadora y productos avícolas. Las y los afiliados a la UFCW también trabajan en el sector de atención a la salud, la industria de la confección, productos químicos, destilerías y ventas al menudeo.  ]]> http://www.ufcw.org/2007/07/23/jose-guardado-trabajador-de-una-empacadora-y-activista-de-la-union-2/feed/ 0 http://www.ufcw.org/2007/05/24/guestworker-undermines-fundamental-american-values/ http://www.ufcw.org/2007/05/24/guestworker-undermines-fundamental-american-values/#comments Thu, 24 May 2007 09:56:51 +0000 UFCW http://ufcw.org/2007/05/24/guestworker-undermines-fundamental-american-values/ Washington, D.C.—”"The sad fact is that our nation is currently incapable of enforcing our country’s most basic labor laws and workplace protections. To suggest that a new guestworker program can be constructed with adequate workplace protections is disingenuous,”" said United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) International Vice President Michael Wilson in testimony before the House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security and International Law.

“”The core issue is a failed immigration system that compounds its failure by victimizing workers,”" said Wilson, who is Director of the UFCW Legislative and Political Action Department. “”Our country’s archaic immigration policy—incapable of dealing with 21st century immigration patterns and economic realities—is undermining the very ideals and values our country was built on, and serving neither business nor workers.”"

Immigrants and native-born American workers in underpaid economic sectors are experiencing workplace abuse, wage erosion and deteriorating working conditions. Meanwhile, immigration enforcement measures that consist of raiding workplaces, breaking up families, and devastating communities offer no sensible remedy to this situation and are antithetical to fundamental American values.

The guestworker programs are not the solution and would allow employers to turn permanent, full-time, family-supporting jobs into temporary, go-nowhere jobs that exploit immigrants and native-born workers alike.

“”Before we enact any new Guestworker program,”" continued Wilson, “”Congress should begin with making sure that the basic workplace protections already on the books are enforced. Guestworker creates a culture in which people believe that a person’s race, color, or national origin relegates them to a life of low-paying, no-future jobs. It also discourages domestic workers from those lines of work, segregating the workforce. Finally, when guestworkers choose to exert workplace rights—the right to a safe and healthy workplace or the right to form a union—they risk losing their jobs or being deported. In effect, this amounts to compulsory consent to abuse and exploitation, and lowers working standards for all working people.”"

The UFCW is committed to working with all members of Congress on achieving meaningful immigration reform that is consistent with fundamental American values, protects all workers, provides immigrants an opportunity to fully participate in the democratic system and achieve the American dream.

Mientras el acuerdo que fue anunciado ayer crea una apertura para formar una legislación significativa, le falta mucho para llegar a ser una reforma integral.

Demasiados aspectos del acuerdo no cumplen los principios fundamentales estadounidenses de la democracia y la equidad. 

Nosotros somos una nación de inclusión—un plan de trabajadores temporales sólo convertiría trabajos que son permanentes en trabajos temporales, crearía un subclase de trabajadores explotados y resultaría en estándares laborales más bajos para todos los trabajadores.

Nosotros somos una nación que aprecia las familias—la creación de un sistema de puntos no sólo mantendría familias separadas y favorecía ciertas familias más que otras, también socavaría la estabilidad comunitaria y la idea más básica de la justicia. 

Nosotros somos una nación de oportunidad—la creación de un sistema que favorece una clase de trabajadores más que otra cerraría la puerta al Sueño Americano para millones de inmigrantes que, aunque trabajan duro, tienen niveles educativos y profesionales más bajos.

Cualquier tipo de legislación que se desvía de estos valores fundamentales sólo exacerbará los problemas de nuestro sistema migratorio actual.

Durante la campaña de organización actual, los trabajadores se han quejado con regularidad que Town send cambia los relojes en la planta, exige que los trabajadores paguen por el equipo necesario, y que la compañía no les pague por el tiempo que trabajan. Muchos trabajadores creen que Townsend hace esto porque no cree que los trabajadores inmigrantes se vayan a quejar.

“”La ley es muy clara—requiere que empleadores como Townsend paga sus empleados por el tiempo que trabajan. Esto incluye el tiempo que pasan poniéndose y quitándose el equipo de seguridad requerido. Parece que Townsend cree que los trabajadores en sus plantas en Siler City y Pittsboro deben ofrecer su mano de obra como un regalo a la compañía. Ellos merecen recibir pago por todo el tiempo que trabajan—incluyendo el tiempo ya trabajado que todavía no ha sido pagado—y esa es una de las razones por la que están tratando de formar una unión,”" dijo Mark Lauritsen, director y vicepresidente de la División de Procesamiento, Empacado y Manufactura de Alimentos de la UFCW.

Una trabajadora de Pittsboro, Inez Díaz, dijo, “”Trabajamos duro. Merecemos recibir pago y trato justo de Townsend. Ellos nos quitan el costo de nuestros materiales de trabajo de nuestros cheques. Ni nos pagan por nuestro tiempo de preparación. Ya es hora que Townsend deje de tratarnos como ciudadanos de segunda clase. Estamos formando una unión para mejorar las condiciones para los inmigrantes y todos los trabajadores en las polleras.”"

La UFCW apoyará la marcha por los derechos inmigrantes el 1 mayo en Raleigh-Durham. El año pasado, los trabajadores e inmigrantes marcharon para exigir la reforma comprensiva de la política migratoria. “”El abuso de los trabajadores inmigrantes es una práctica que muchos empleadores usan para bajar los estándares de trabajo para todos los trabajadores en varios sectores económicos, incluyendo la industria avícola,”" dijo Lauritsen. “”Y es una de la razones principales por la que la UFCW está apoyando la reforma comprensiva de las leyes de inmigración.”"

Paulo Faustino, empleado de Townsend, está de acuerdo, “”Los abusos de los trabajadores inmigrantes en las polleras tienen que parar. Con una unión tendremos el poder legal para ganar mejoramientos y cambio. Merecemos pago y trato justo. No debemos dejar que la compañía nos intimide con lo que dicen. Tenemos el derecho de exigir mejoramientos en las condiciones para todos los inmigrantes y trabajadores en las polleras. Es por eso que estamos formando una unión con la UFCW. “”

La UFCW representa a 1.3 millones de trabajadores por todo la América de Norte. Los miembros de la UFCW trabajan en las industrias de empacado de carne, procesamiento de pollo y de alimentos, venta de alimentos al por menor y en supermercados. La UFCW se centra en los trabajadores. Está comprometida a ayudar los trabajadores ganar mejores salarios, beneficios y condiciones de trabajo más seguras. A pesar de los retos presentados por el alto costo de la asistencia de salud y los medicamentos recetados, la inseguridad de jubilación y la instabilidad económica, la UFCW es una voz poderosa para los trabajadores y trabajadoras y es un líder en la protección y mejoramiento de las vidas de todas las personas que trabajan.

“We applaud the decision to finally issue a final rule on employer payment for their employees’ protective equipment” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.  “This rulemaking has taken far too long.  We will be monitoring the Department of Labor’s actions to make sure they honor this commitment and issue a strong, protective rule.”

On January 3, 2007, the AFL-CIO and UFCW filed a lawsuit against the Bush Administration over its failure to finalize the payment for PPE rule.  The court ordered the Bush Administration to respond to the lawsuit by March 19.  On March 14, the Secretary of Labor filed papers with the court committing to issue a final rule in November 2007.

“This is a victory for workers who have suffered needlessly while awaiting action by the Bush Administration,” said Joe Hansen, UFCW International President.  “According to OSHA’s own estimates, 400,000 workers have been injured and 50 have died while the rule has been in limbo.  We expect a strong final rule this November.”

Workers in the meatpacking, poultry and construction industries, and low-wage and immigrant workers are most vulnerable to injury.

The rule was first announced in 1997 and proposed in 1999 by OSHA after a ruling by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission that OSHA’s existing PPE standard could not be interpreted to require employers to pay for protective equipment.   The rule proposed in 1999 did not impose any new obligations on employers to provide safety equipment; it simply codified OSHA’s policy that employers, not employees, have the responsibility to pay for it.

In 1999, OSHA promised to issue the final PPE rule in July 2000.  But it missed that deadline and has missed every self-imposed deadline since.  The agency has failed to act in response to a 2003 petition by the AFL-CIO and UFCW and numerous requests by the Hispanic Congressional Caucus.

Miles de personas están participando en demostraciones en el país hoy para demandar una reforma racional y comprensiva de la política migratoria de los Estados Unidos.

La UFCW ha estado luchando por décadas para organizar, representar y mejorar los sueldos y condiciones de trabajo para los trabajadores inmigrantes. Algunas de las primeras industrias que utilizaron la mano de obra de inmigrantes fueron las del empaquetado de carne y del procesamiento de alimentos. Por hecho, la UFCW ha estado metida en esta lucha por cien años.

Los Estados Unidos no tiene una política migratoria que es racional. En realidad, la política de inmigración ha sido privatizada. Empleadores importan y explotan los trabajadores inmigrantes, demostrando poco respeto por la ley federal o las agencias federales encargadas con la ejecución de la ley.

Las cuestiones de inmigración en los Estados Unidos son parte de una tendencia global—la explotación general de la mano de obra. Como parte de su búsqueda para el grupo de trabajadores más explotables, corporaciones exportan trabajos—e importan trabajadores para crear un grupo de trabajadores explotables acá en nuestro propio país.

Una población de trabajadores que viven y trabajan sin derechos existe como consecuencia de la falta de estándares firmes y ejecutables en la política migratoria estadounidense. Estos trabajadores pueden ser reclutados, importados, explotados y dispuestos.

La criminalización de los inmigrantes de los Estados Unidos para remediar el fracaso de la política migratoria estadounidense—como está propuesto en H.R. 4437—es inmoral e hipócrita.

La reforma de la política migratoria tiene que ser comprensiva. Una política migratoria que es constructiva legalizaría los millones de trabajadores inmigrantes que ya están contribuyendo a nuestra economía y sociedad, a la vez que protegería los salarios y condiciones de trabajo de todos los trabajadores—algo menos que eso lastima a todos los trabajadores.

Para mayores informes contacte press@ufcw.org

For nearly eight years, OSHA has failed to issue a standard requiring employers to pay for PPE.   The rule was first announced in 1997 and proposed in 1999 by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) after a ruling by the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission that OSHA’s existing PPE standard could not be interpreted to require employers to pay for protective equipment.  In 1999, OSHA promised to issue the final PPE rule in July 2000.  But it missed that deadline and has missed every self-imposed deadline since.  The agency has failed to act in response to a 2003 petition by the AFL-CIO and UFCW and numerous requests by the Hispanic Congressional Caucus.

By OSHA’s own estimates, 400,000 workers have been injured and 50 have died due to the absence of this rule.   The labor groups say that workers in some of America’s most dangerous industries, such as meatpacking, poultry and construction, and low-wage and immigrant workers who suffer high injury rates, are vulnerable to being forced by their employers to pay for their own safety gear because of OSHA’s failure to finish the PPE rule.

“”Nothing is standing in the way of OSHA issuing a final PPE rule to protect worker safety and health except the will to do so.   It is long overdue that the agency takes action on protective equipment.  The time has come to force OSHA to act,”" said Joseph Hansen, UFCW International President.