Thread: AH&LA Member Testifies At Senate Immigration Field Heari

http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/1540 ... 28093.html

6 July 2006

AH&LA Member Testifies At Senate Immigration Field Hearing, Urges Congress To Include Guest Worker Program In Final Legislation


Washington, At a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee field hearing held yesterday in Philadelphia, American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) member Carol Rossi testified that comprehensive immigration reform must include an adequate guest worker program to ensure the economic security of the lodging industry. Ms. Rossi is corporate director of human resources for The Harrisburg Hotel Corporation, which operates several hotels and restaurants in Pennsylvania. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Senator Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), convened the hearing to examine the need for a guest worker program. Ms. Rossi’s full testimony is available at www.ahla.com.

“The majority of my staff’s time, effort and our department’s budget are spent directly on the recruitment and hiring process to fill the approximately 45 job openings typically posted between our various operations on our weekly job opportunity lists,” Rossi said in prepared testimony. “These openings result in an employee reporting to work knowing that he will be understaffed by 10-12 percent on any given day. This is incredibly frustrating for both employee and employer. For both it means more work, longer hours, increased workplace injuries, increased guests’ complaints and the list goes on.”

“Without a continued flow of immigrant labor our workforce will fall short of what we need to meet demand,” she said. “We are hopeful and optimistic that the United States will adopt a more thoughtful immigration policy that accommodates not only the hospitality industry’s growth, but also the growth of our nation’s economy.”

Rossi said that immigrants are fundamental to the success of the hotel and restaurant industries, as entrepreneurs, as customers, and as workers. According to AH&LA, the lodging industry employed 1,795,000 people in 2004. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts a 16.4 percent growth rate in hospitality jobs, requiring 304,200 additional employees by 2014. Rossi said that immigration is not the only answer, but it is a critical one for the hospitality industry.

She also testified about the complexity and expense of hiring workers through the government’s current H-2B temporary worker program. “What is apparent is that we cannot fill our positions with the workforce that currently exists. Jobs are growing in hospitality and the workforce is shrinking. Add to that our declining birth rates in the United States, and it becomes apparent the math just does not work to allow us to move into the future successfully.”

“In order to be effective, comprehensive immigration reform in securing our borders and protecting our economic security must: meet the increasing demand for labor, identify those immigrants already in the country and provide a method for a status adjustment after they are screened and fined, and allow those who qualify to work in jobs for which Americans cannot be found,” Rossi said.

The bill passed by the Senate, S. 2611, the Comprehensive Immigration Act of 2006, recognizes the need to bolster national security and allows for an adequate workforce to maintain the industry’s economic growth, Rossi said. In addition to substantial measures and resources to secure the nation’s borders, she said that S. 2611 creates a stringent earned adjustment program for undocumented workers, significantly increases the number of foreign-born workers that would be allowed in the United States annually, and offers H-2B cap relief exemption.

According to a new national poll sponsored by the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Foundation (AH&LEF), the not-for-profit affiliate of AH&LA, 80 percent of registered voters want Congress to pass immigration reform before the end of this year. Sixty-six percent said they support adopting a temporary worker program that would allow immigrants to come to the United States to work for a period of time then return to their home countries. The survey also found that more than seven in 10 voters said they would rather Congress pass “a bill that includes border security, employer enforcement, and a temporary worker program” rather than pass no bill at all. The poll results and poll analysis can be viewed at: www.ahla.com/public_lodging_advocacy_resources.asp.

“We commend Senators Specter and Kennedy for convening this hearing to highlight the urgent need for comprehensive immigration reform,” said Joseph A. McInerney, CHA, president/CEO of AH&LA. “The hearing provided clear proof that our nation’s immigration laws are outdated and inadequate. We will continue pressing Congress to work out the details in conference committee. American voters and businesses want immigration reform, and now is the time to get it done.”

Serving the hospitality industry for nearly a century, AH&LA is the sole national association representing all sectors and stakeholders in the lodging industry, including individual hotel property members, hotel companies, student and faculty members, and industry suppliers. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., AH&LA provides members with national advocacy on Capitol Hill, public relations and image management, education, research and information, and other value-added services to provide bottom line savings and ensure a positive business climate for the lodging industry. Partner state associations provide local representation and additional cost-saving benefits to members.

Hotel industry already employes illegals as housekeepers (maids), below minimum wage. How about food service? Illegals are [defacto] "exempt" from the requirement to get a Food Handler's Certificate (where required).

Exploiting illegal labor for their own gain is more like it. These hotels and restaurants pay them substandard wages, no benefits and no food certificates, not to mention they do not pay taxes for them. We are not going to let a flood of illegals into our country just so they can make money and let us the american taxpayers pay for everything else.