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UFCW, Food Manufacturers Form Alliance on Senate Immigration Bill

May 08, 2013

UFCWnewsWASHINGTON, DC –The United Food & Commercial Workers International Union and the Food Manufacturers Immigration Coalition (FMIC) yesterday announced their partnership on comprehensive immigration reform in a letter sent to the Senate “Gang of Eight,” praising them for their efforts on S. 744. The labor-business coalition is also seeking improvements to the Senate bill in the areas of visa allocation and employment verification.

“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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Constituency Groups, Immigration, Legislation, Packing and Processing, Politics, Social Justice, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values, United Latinos, War on Workers

Members from UFCW Local 348-S Fight Immigration “Silent Raids” at the Workplace

Apr 10, 2013

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.

Barack Obama, Constituency Groups, Immigration, Legislation, Packing and Processing, Politics, Social Justice, UFCW Industries, UFCW Values, United Latinos, War on Workers

UFCW and Allies Write Open Letter to President Obama and Congress Calling for Stronger Family-Based Immigration Reform

Mar 15, 2013

Yesterday, the UFCW, along with a long list of other immigrants’ rights, civil rights, and faith-based organizations, wrote to President Obama and Congress to call for protections of a family-based immigration system in the ongoing fight for immigration reform legislation.

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.