The Real Politics of Immigration: Amnesty & Secret Ballot Protection Act
How far will Pro Amnesty Republicans go to appease, Big Labor Unions?


Op-Ed


The Real Politics of Immigration: Amnesty and the Secret Ballot Protection Act
How far will the pro Amnesty Republicans go to appease, Big Labor unions?


By

Will Fine, Executive Director National Alliance for Worker
and Employer Rights




With the passage of a guest worker amnesty bill Senate Republicans are on the
threshold of signing away to the biggest and most corrupt labor unions
an important part of our American freedom -the right to a secret Ballot
election in the American workplace. Starting four years after NAFTA
passed in 1998, John J. Sweeney, president of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.,
began a two-day trip to Mexico--the first by a AFL-CIO president
to Mexico--where he said his aim was to encourage Mexican and
American unions to help each other in cross-border organizing drives and to find
other “practical ways to work together.” Sweeney has opened the
borders to all immigrants in his rhetoric today: ” The AFL-CIO and
our member unions demand a path to citizenship for Immigrant workers
and fair treatment and freedom from exploitation for all the workers
of America."


Illegal immigrants know what Sweeney means as many of those same
Immigrants are now a part of Sweeney’s plan in this country. These same
illegal immigrants realize two things fully: They are here seeking what
they think are better jobs but they also understand where to look for
them knowing about their own unions and what ours could be via
Sweeney’s plan. Sweeney desires in America what all Mexican
immigrants know about their unions. In Mexico all public
sector workers are unionized and union density rates are still as
high as 30 % for the private sector while unions in America are
demoralized and in decline. Sweeney has a trap which the unions
are about spring on the Republicans that is left out from the
current immigration debate but should not be buried. Sweeney’s
trap starting in 1998 is a targeted campaign on this side of
the border by Big Labor casting aside a means of our
democracy-Secret Ballot Elections.



The campaign is really a series of organizing campaigns called card

check drives that are making huge inroads in traditionally Republican
areas of the South beginning with union successes in Houston and Miami.
Why the South for these union card check campaigns that the Democrats
haven’t won in years? Could it be because of the proximity to our
porous southern border bolsters what may appear now as a small minority
election victories into greater union successes boding ill against our
working freedom to come?



As pro- amnesty supporters will argue these same illegals help us by

taking jobs that no one wants. This is especially true when 11,000,000
illegals become legal through the guest worker program proposed by
Congress. These new legal citizens will become a part of the American
workforce. But this population explosion in our labor force is being
targeted by the unions in their card check organizing drives. Pro-
Amnesty supporters, whether they know it or not, are guaranteeing the
future of the unions by increasing the pool of workers into industries
the unions are targeting--precisely those jobs no one wants....

Realizing this boon, unions have organized pressure on pro-amnesty
Republicans to raise the white flag. During the Mayday strikes in LA,
which was one of the largest marches of illegal immigrants, unions
raised more than $100,000 and were responsible for security,
constructing stages and mass mobilization of illegals in the LA county
area. Republicans also know that unions payback Democrats at the polls.
Unions will use all their might to bring these new immigrants to polls
for the Democrats in 06 and 08 to defeat the Republican majority.



There is one counter the Republican conference can take as whole to
change this outcome. The counter will take the prime weapon of the
Democrats and their union minions away--the end to their card check
organizing drives. Such a counter spells out the erosion of union
support for pro -amnesty laws in this country. For If unions cannot win
elections by their rigged "card check" campaigns why target immigrants
at all? Such a counter would also nullify the negative election dynamic
if you are pro-amnesty Republican you are not also pro-union. Without a
counter Americans will live in fear before a Mexican reshaping of the
American labor force along the lines of its vast corruption and greater
magnitude of political influence on the Government of Mexico. That
single counter that should be used now is the Secret Ballot Protection
Act.


The Secret Ballot Protection act gives all legal citizens the
right to a Secret Ballot vote. Republicans need to defend this counter
that is being challenged by the Kennedy-Miller Bill enshrining the
defeat of Democracy in the American workplace. The best defense of the
Secret Ballot Protection Act is bringing SBPA to a vote. Without such a
vote American workers continue to be subjected to the intimidation and
violence of the unions in the public card check process. Unions do not
win elections when freedom is involved. By bringing the Secret Ballot
Protection Act to a vote with the Immigration Bill and passing it pro-
amnesty Republicans will be seen as supporting Democracy in the
workplace. Not passing SBPA now but passing amnesty in the immigration
Bill will allow unions to grow steadily in power and corruption over
the newly legal immigrants betraying the true promise of America to its
citizens. SBPA will send a strong signal to illegal aliens everywhere
with ideas to shut down cities with their union inspired violence that
the path from Mexico City to New York is not a reward for their
illegality by making certain a right to the illusory prize of union
membership.


The National Alliance for Worker and Employer Rights calls on
Majority Leader Frist, HELP Chairman Enzi, Speaker of the House
Hastert, Majority Leader Boehner and Chairman Mckeon of Ed & Workforce
to strengthen our national border protections against illegal
immigrants with even stronger internal borders in our workplace by
voting on and passing the Secret Ballot Protection act post haste.


http://www.congress.org/congressorg/web ... id=8813401