Unions Should Protect Their Members, Not Illegal Aliens
Michael Cutler

In the wake of Labor Day, perhaps it’s important to consider the relationship between illegal immigration and labor.

There is a Yiddish word – chutzpah - that describes the tactics of the management of Agriprocessors, the company whose Iowa plant was raided several months ago by special agents of ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement). The original example of chutzpah was the kid who kills both parents and then pleads for mercy in court on the basis of being an orphan. I believe that Agriprocessors’ management has demonstrated an even greater example of chutzpah!

The management of Agriprocessors is now attempting to block the unionizing of its workforce in court. They want to use the legal system to continue to exploit illegal aliens and, according to this article in the New York Times, hired day laborer illegal aliens to replace aliens they fired who had sought to join a union. What is incredible is that the basis for filing a suit in court to block its workers from joining a union is the fact that they are illegal aliens who should not be working in the United States in the first place!

This lawsuit has now made its way to the Supreme Court and, depending on how the justices of the Supreme Court rule, this case may have major ramifications for employers and employees around the entire country.

What is disgusting is that there are unions that do not look out for the best interests of its members but apparently take the union dues of those workers who join and then act in the best interests of the employer who hired those workers. This outrageous situation is alleged in this statement from the article:

The company, the labor board asserted, improperly fired two workers for supporting the union. Moreover, the board said, management sought to block the workers from voting for the United Food and Commercial Workers, by announcing one day that a majority of its drivers had signed up with a union known for working closely with employers, Local 17-18 of the United Production Workers.

This brings us back to the issue of the way that illegal aliens are exploited by unscrupulous employers. As I have noted on so many previous occasions, the immigration issue is not simply a "conservative" issue, it is an issue that should be of great concern to Americans of all political persuasions. I am a lifelong registered Democrat as were my parents. My dad was a member of the Plumbers' Union in Brooklyn. While far from perfect, unions can help level the playing field to help prevent abusive practices by unscrupulous employers. However, as the saying goes, "power corrupts." Unions need to conduct themselves in a fashion that is consistent with the best interests of their members.

Shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I went to Annapolis, Maryland to provide testimony before the Maryland legislature to address the issue of driver's licenses and illegal aliens. I am adamantly opposed to providing illegal aliens with driver's licenses for a number of reasons, the first of which is national security. If you are unable to provide reliable identification to attest to your true identity and you succeed in obtaining a driver's license under a false name, you can use that driver's license as a "breeder document" to obtain all sorts of other officially issued identity documents to create a brand new identity for yourself. This tactic has been used effectively by countless criminals and, in fact, was used by the terrorists who attacked our nation on September 11, 2001.

Driver's licenses also make it easy for those who possess one to gain access to airports, federal and state office buildings as well as corporate buildings. By being able to legally drive, he who has a driver's license is able to easily move around the country without being traced. Driving a car and paying tolls and other expenses with cash, he can travel in a stealthy fashion.

Driver's licenses can also be used to secure employment and can also enable its bearers to vote because of the so-called "Motor Voter Laws."

Now you might understand why I’m against driver’s licenses for illegal aliens!

I was also shocked to find that there were some high-priced attorneys representing illegal aliens on the issue of driver's licenses and on another issue relating to immigration that was being considered by that legislative body: the proposal that Maryland State Police would work cooperatively with ICE to identify illegal aliens who were encountered by police officers during their routine duties.

It wasn’t so much that the illegal aliens had legal representation - what shocked me was that from what I heard stated by those attorneys is that they had been retained by the AFL-CIO!

Unions are supposed to represent the best interests of their members. What makes illegal aliens so valuable to unscrupulous employers is the fact that they are easy to exploit and abuse because they are vulnerable. Additionally, labor is not unlike any other commodity. The law of supply and demand has implications where labor is concerned. When there is a large labor pool, the value of the labor that they offer is diminished.

Unions, on the other hand want as many members as they can get for two reasons. First of all, unions want to collect union dues from as many people as possible. Second, the more members a union has, the greater is its clout. The problem for union leaders is to determine their priorities. When unions faithfully represent their members, they can provide those members with better working conditions and better wages. That is what unions are supposed to be about. However, when unions fail to faithfully represent their members and act in a duplicitous fashion, they are committing an act of betrayal and should be taken to task for it.

Union leaders must always remember that they have an obligation to do what is best for our nation as well as for their interests. Acting in any way that encourages illegal immigration makes the job of the Border Patrol agents ever more difficult and has other implications for our nation and for all Americans.

On another note, what I find interesting, to put it mildly, is that I have yet to hear of any so-called immigrant rights group being heard on the issue of the exploitation of the illegal aliens. If these groups are so concerned about "immigrant rights" why haven't we heard a single word from them? Could it be that they are well aware that illegal aliens are routinely exploited and they don't care as long as they can increase their membership rolls with people they are supposed to help (but in reality do nothing to help them)? Could it be that these immigrant groups know very well that the sole reason that illegal aliens are such desirable employees is because they can and are terribly exploited? Could it be that these organizations know that if they make demands on unscrupulous employers that the employers would simply hire United States citizens and lawful immigrants? This would discourage the entry of more illegal aliens into our country and would cause many of those illegal aliens currently present in the United States illegally to leave.

When candidates for political offices give those inspiring speeches claiming that they want to bring jobs back to America, We the People should be asking, "Who will do those jobs?"

Simply getting some factories back to the United States and then allowing them to exploit and abuse their employees serves no one’s purposes except for the crooked employer.

Hard working Americans should be protected by unions and by our government against unfair hiring practices of unscrupulous employers.
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