Thread: Unions and American Workers - Part I

There are videos and pics at the source link.
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Unions And American Workers – Part I



By Charles Breiterman, Tuesday, January 12, 2010, 10:00 AM EST - posted on NumbersUSA

Unions such as the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), and the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA) are pushing for comprehensive immigration reform that includes a de facto amnesty for illegal workers. I’ve been trying to figure out why these unions would subject their members to competition from workers that shouldn’t even be in the country. This first blog doesn't get to the bottom of the issue, but lays out some observations.

My investigation began when I went to a union rally back on September 3, 2009. Pictures and video are below. The event was in New York City, about 2 blocks from the World Trade Center Site. A building at 67 Liberty Street was getting remodeled, with the addition of 15 floors. The contractor was using non-union labor. The president of New Yorkers for Immigration Enforcement and Control (NY ICE) was given a flyer and talked to an organizer when she was in the area the week before, and she notified me. The organizer had told her that he suspected a lot of the non-union workers were illegally present in this country.

You can see in the video that they've got the two giant rats set up. They are saying the construction company is a rat - an employer of non-union labor. They had members of several different unions at this rally. I met carpenters, laborers, and painters.





At 6:00 in the first video, the male union organizer says, in response to my question, "What are they getting paid? “A job like this, they should be paid at least $18 an hour - a laborer, because there are different trades - I can only speak of the laborer. [$18/hour] that's the apprentice. That's not including benefits and pension." The organizer thought the non-union workers were getting paid $8-9 per hour. I spoke to a union painter off-camera. He works for the city and said he gets paid $42 an hour. He said illegal workers in his field get paid as low as $10 per hour. The union wages may seem high. But please remember, this is New York City, where it takes an income of $100,000 per year for a family to be considered middle class.

At 2:20 in the first video, the organizer says...

It's a disgrace to us as Americans." He is talking about hiring non-union labor. At 2:42, the union organizer refers to WTC: "It's un-American. We have already lost a lot of Americans right from this neighborhood. We have lost lives here.

People need to build themselves back. People need to take care of their families. He's fighting us. he's fighting the middle class. … This is about putting a roof over your head, getting your kids a decent education, putting food on your tables. That's what this is about. Giving yourself a pension, and giving yourself a living wage.

At 3:18...

O.K. stop exploiting workers. They are not paying health care. They won't have a pension - that's a disgrace.





In the second video, another Union Organizer says at :40...

I have a site, 2 Cooper Square, which is East 4th and Bowery. I was protesting there. They are almost done with the concrete. It's a 50-story residential. But the workers that are doing the concrete, they are all Brazilians. They pick them up in vans in [New] Jersey, and bring them, and they pack them in, drop them off. At the end of the day, they put 'em in, and bring them back. And I'm sure they don't have a green card.

And then starting at 2:11 in the second video, we have an out of work, fully trained, 100% American, Latino construction worker. He's been out of work for 7 months (as of September 2009). He is a union carpenter. His wage is $45 an hour when he works. He is fully certified by OSHA to report workplace safety violations. He holds multiple certifications that required additional training.






Analysis

You can see why cheap labor employers wouldn't want to hire union labor. They've got to pay them a living wage ($45 in New York City), they have to obey workplace safety standards. They would rather hire $10 per hour workers, probably illegal aliens, who are willing to work in unsafe conditions without complaining. It's just like NumbersUSA has been saying all along: among the biggest victims of illegal immigration are American citizens and those legally authorized to work, including American workers who happen to be Hispanic. The unemployment rate for Hispanic workers is currently 12.7%; that is much higher than the national level of 10%.

The Pew Hispanic Center reported in April, 2009 that there are about 11.9 million illegal aliens in the United States, and 8.3 million of them are in the workforce. [See pages 22 and 24 of that report.] And the report continued that of that 8.3 million, “21% are construction workers.â€

The reason that these unions push for amnesty Is because a LARGE part of their membership are ILLEGAL ALIENS using fake Identification. I have been a union member (plumber & pipefitters) for 25 years. Illegals are being "ORGANIZED" Into unions by the hundreds as we speak. In union local 525 Las Vegas they have an "ORGANIZER" named Lou Salazar,and I have personally watched him taking In "NEW" members,qualified or not,and many of these Individuals had a hard time speaking ENGLISH,so he spoke with them In SPANISH. Many times while regular union members were standing In line at the union hall waiting for a job,a {"NEW" and probably Illegal} Individual would be sent upstairs after a conversation In SPANISH,and he would bypass the normal procedure and receive a work dispatch without checking In downstairs..... All unions are "ORGANIZING" Illegals to boost their membership to the detriment of AMERICAN CITIZEN UNION MEMBERS,that are for the most part FAR FAR more qualified than the people that they are bringing In. Some of these people have NO QUALIFICATIONS AT ALL IN THE TRADE THAT THEY ARE "ORGANIZED" Into !!!!

Originally Posted by topsecret10

The reason that these unions push for amnesty Is because a LARGE part of their membership are ILLEGAL ALIENS using fake Identification. I have been a union member (plumber & pipefitters) for 25 years. Illegals are being "ORGANIZED" Into unions by the hundreds as we speak. In union local 525 Las Vegas they have an "ORGANIZER" named Lou Salazar,and I have personally watched him taking In "NEW" members,qualified or not,and many of these Individuals had a hard time speaking ENGLISH,so he spoke with them In SPANISH. Many times while regular union members were standing In line at the union hall waiting for a job,a {"NEW" and probably Illegal} Individual would be sent upstairs after a conversation In SPANISH,and he would bypass the normal procedure and receive a work dispatch without checking In downstairs..... All unions are "ORGANIZING" Illegals to boost their membership to the detriment of AMERICAN CITIZEN UNION MEMBERS,that are for the most part FAR FAR more qualified than the people that they are bringing In. Some of these people have NO QUALIFICATIONS AT ALL IN THE TRADE THAT THEY ARE "ORGANIZED" Into !!!!

Yes a large part of their membership are illegals. But...hear me out.

THE REAL REASON THE UNIONS ARE ACTING AGAINST THE GENERAL GOOD OF THE AMERICAN WORKER IS THAT THERE ARE ILLEGALS WHO ARE ACTUALLY EMPLOYED BY THE UNION.

What I am saying is that besides the members of the union being illegals, the union itself has employed some illegals. For instance some of the union organizers are illegal. The hierarchy of the actual union has been infiltrated by illegals.

It is not just the members that belong to the union are illegal. If it was only the members, then there is no loss to the actual union because if illegals are fired because they are illegal, the employers will have to hire new employees. The new employees then are union members in most cases. But because the actual union employees are sometimes themselves illegal, they act only in the best interest of illegals....which is against the best interests of the American worker.

The problem is within the union organization itself. Illegals have gained some position and power within those unions. People who are directly employed by ANY UNION should be required to prove their immigration status. And I would go so far as to say they should be citizens.

Originally Posted by topsecret10

The reason that these unions push for amnesty Is because a LARGE part of their membership are ILLEGAL ALIENS using fake Identification. I have been a union member (plumber & pipefitters) for 25 years. Illegals are being "ORGANIZED" Into unions by the hundreds as we speak. In union local 525 Las Vegas they have an "ORGANIZER" named Lou Salazar,and I have personally watched him taking In "NEW" members,qualified or not,and many of these Individuals had a hard time speaking ENGLISH,so he spoke with them In SPANISH. Many times while regular union members were standing In line at the union hall waiting for a job,a {"NEW" and probably Illegal} Individual would be sent upstairs after a conversation In SPANISH,and he would bypass the normal procedure and receive a work dispatch without checking In downstairs..... All unions are "ORGANIZING" Illegals to boost their membership to the detriment of AMERICAN CITIZEN UNION MEMBERS,that are for the most part FAR FAR more qualified than the people that they are bringing In. Some of these people have NO QUALIFICATIONS AT ALL IN THE TRADE THAT THEY ARE "ORGANIZED" Into !!!!

Because this guy you are talking about has power within the union. He may very well be illegal himself....or has family members who are illegal....or is an illegal sympathizer. So he abuses the power he has within the union to discriminate against American workers. This practice should be exposed. If this practice is exposed then unions will start to get rid of these people because they wont want the bad PR.