Thread: Md. Trash Workers Strike Over 'Immigration Enforcement Threats'

Md. Trash Workers Strike Over 'Immigration Enforcement Threats'

Tuesday, Sep 10, 2013 |
Updated 5:45 PM EDT

VIDEO AT LINK :

[IMG]http://media.nbcwashington.com/images/654*368/potomac+disposal+strike.jpg[/IMG]

The trash in front on thousands of homes in Montgomery County may not be collected Tuesday due to a strike. Tony Tull spoke with workers about what they're demanding from Potomac Disposal.

Montgomery County sanitation workers will continue talks with their employer Tuesday after they walked off the job, claiming Latino employees were unfairly singled out after asking for a wage increase and affordable healthcare.

The employees of Potomac Disposal claimed they faced "inappropriate and intimidating immigration enforcement threats," a union rep told News4.

They say that last week, they asked for a wage increase and affordable healthcare. When the owner of the company refused, the workers staged a walkout Thursday.

The following day, Latino workers arrived at work to find I-9 forms attached to their time cards, they said, along with a demand that those workers re-verify their immigration statuses.

The workers said only Latino employees were targeted.

But the company denies the union's claims, saying Latino workers were not singled out. "They know they have to have their I-9s updated, and we are giving them time to update that information," said Rick Levine, the owner of Potomac Disposal.

Levine said late Tuesday that the workers had agreed to return to work. The union responded that the workers had agreed to return in order to preserve their bargaining stance and restart the discussion over the I-9s -- and that did not necessarily mean they would return to the job.

"The workers are furious over the I-9 forms. They felt it was a direct threat toward them, intimidation toward their efforts just to get a fair contract," said Steve Lanning, the Director of Organizing for LiUNA! Mid-Atlantic Regional Organizing Coalition.

The walkout could affect as many as 18,000 homes in parts of Potomac, Silver Spring and Bethesda, Md.

However, Levine said he had hired extra workers, and service was not affected. Company owners said earlier Tuesday they had 14 backup trucks to cover trash and recycling collection until the striking workers returned.

Federal law requires employers to use I-9 forms to verify an employee's identity and right to work in the United States.

Employees complete the form at the time of hiring.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/lo...223102011.html

Oops.

Sanitation Worker on Strike Struck by Trash Truck

Wednesday, Sep 11, 2013 | Updated 12:36 PM EDT

A sanitation worker participating in a strike in Montgomery County was struck by a trash truck Wednesday morning.

Montgomery County Police confirmed to News4 that a pedestrian was struck in the19000 block of Woodfield Road in Gaithersburg at around 6:30 a.m.

Over 50 employees of Potomac Disposal began their strike Monday, claiming Latino employees were unfairly singled out after asking for a wage increase and affordable healthcare. They say they returned Wednesday ready to work but were greeted by locked gates and a sign that advised them to see their union representative for a back-to-work date.

As the group congregated by an exit gate, the worker was struck by a garbage truck leaving the facility.

"My observation was that the truck gunned it through the line, and that's when the worker got hit," said Steve Lanning, the Director of Organizing for LiUNA! Mid-Atlantic Regional Organizing Coalition.
Police say the driver was found at fault and was cited for failing to control the vehicle.

The victim was taken to an area hospital via ambulance. There's no word on his condition.

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/lo...223275971.html

More about their paid handlers - LiUNA.

JANUARY 22, 2013 6:21PM
Only Immigrants Can Fill the Coming Employment

The radical erosion of what was once a worker’s best friend – the labor union – is demonstrated by the story of an unemployed American I spoke with recently.

A Midwesterner and union member with six years of experience in environmental abatement and a University of Phoenix business administration degree, Sam (not the worker’s real name) relocated to Southern California. Before moving, Sam researched the job market and union opportunities.

After talking with a Los Angeles construction union, part of the 500,000-member Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), Sam felt confident of earning wages up to $42 an hour in situations that involved asbestos and other hazardous materials.

Once relocated, Sam found the reality different. Sam’s first job paid $14 an hour; the second one, $19. By the time I talked with Sam, who by then had been living in Southern California for a year, pay had dropped to $12 an hour. Sam told me, “I can't even feed my family; I can't pay my rent.”

Not only was Sam's pay low on the union jobs, conditions often were substandard. At one job site, there were inadequate supplies and no water. “They actually had a Gatorade bottle that they cut the top off of, and we all had to share that bottle,” Sam said.

Besides the pay discrepancy and inferior working conditions, Sam estimated that, out of the several thousand local union shop members, 99 percent were Hispanic. Sam assumed that many were illegal workers with false documents and that paying the $795 membership fee might be the only requirement to join the union.

As it turned out, Sam was right. I asked Richard Greer, LiUNA’s Washington, D.C. representative, how many of their union members might be illegal immigrants. Greer told me that the union doesn’t inquire about immigration status, but that any particular union shop’s membership would likely reflect the geographic area’s demographic mix. An estimated one fourth of the illegal alien population in the U.S. – nearly 3 million – live in California, according to thePublic Policy Institute of California.

Greer said that it’s common knowledge that aliens dominate California construction crews. The LiUNA website touts the union’s immigrant heritage and its support for illegal immigrant workers, amnesty and eventual citizenship, as well as the DREAM Act and deferred action for childhood arrivals.

According to LiUNA, its pro-immigrant position is shared among union members,not a surprising position if most of the union workers are not American citizens. A PowerPoint presentation on the LiUNA website attempts to show that, because of retiring baby boomers, the U.S. will over the long term have a labor shortage of 30 million workers. LiUNA argues that only immigrants can fill the gap.

But the evidence doesn’t support LiUNA’s position. The U.S. has entrenched high unemployment. More than 20 million Americans are either unemployed or underemployed. The construction industry, which has a long history of hiring aliens and encouraging illegal immigration, has depressed American construction workers’ wages.

LiUNA and others who lobby for the rights of Hispanic immigrants who are in the the U.S. illegally ignore the fact that the competition for jobs is fiercest for non-degreed Hispanic Americans under age 30. For Hispanics, the broad unemployment rate is about 28 percent for those with a high school diploma, 40 percent for those without a diploma and 45 percent for teens trying to find their first meaningful job.

Unemployed American workers like Sam should not have to take a backseat to illegal immigrants. Unions were originally formed to fight on behalf of Americans who deserve living wages and decent working conditions. A labor market flooded with illegal immigrants undermines a union’s true purpose.

This post first ran at the Californians for Population Stabilization blog.

http://open.salon.com/blog/turbodog5...yment_shortage

The illegal alien's Union is soliciting Congress. I wonder how they are contributing? I will be sending the above article to my congresscritters - ALL of them .

Alert: LIUNA Urges House to Oppose Committee-Passed, Piecemeal Immigration Bills

* Reuters is not responsible for the content in this press release.
Fri Jul 19, 2013 11:16am EDT

Alert: LIUNA Urges House to Oppose Committee-Passed, Piecemeal Immigration Bills

Newswire
WASHINGTON, July 19, 2013

Construction Workers Union Ramps Up Support for Comprehensive Reform

WASHINGTON, July 19, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Just a week after rallying with more than a thousand comprehensive immigration reform supporters outside the Capitol building, the Laborers' International Union of North America is reaching out directly to Members of the U.S. House of Representatives. On behalf of more than 500,000 construction workers, LIUNA General President Terry O'Sullivan sent a letter, yesterday, opposing "flawed, enforcement-centric, piecemeal approaches" coming out of the Judiciary Committee, writing:

(Logo:
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110428/DC91600LOGO)
"LIUNA opposes RR. 1172, "The Legal Workforce Act" (LWA), among the other Bill which may be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives this month. We believe that its requirement that all U.S. employers use E-Verify within 2 years is unrealistic and rushed. We also oppose the Act's definition of Local Union hiring halls as employers for the purpose of E-Verify. Local Unions do not employ the workers they dispatch. Rather, they are the legally recognized representatives of those workers. It is, and should remain, the responsibility of the employer to verify employment status…"

(Full text of the letter can be found below):

LIUNA representatives will be available to discuss how Comprehensive Immigration Reform Should Protect All Workers. To request an interview, please contact our Strategic Communications Department at (202) 942-2262.
Latest LIUNA Alerts on Immigration Reform:

• LIUNA Praises Senate Passage of Immigration Reform
• Letter to Congress in Support of Comprehensive Immigration Reform from General President Terry O'Sullivan
• LIUNA Applauds Bipartisan Immigration Reform, Urges Full Measures to Combat Unscrupulous Employers

Full text of the LIUNA General President Terry O'Sullivan letter to the U.S. House of Representatives:

Dear Representative:

On behalf of the more than 500,000 members of the Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), I urge you to support comprehensive immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship and to oppose the bills recently passed out of the Judiciary Committee (RR.s 1172, 1773, 2131, and 227 because of their flawed, enforcement-centric, piecemeal approaches to immigration reform.

LIUNA supports the comprehensive immigration reform bill passed by the U.S. Senate because it will do a great deal to fix our broken immigration system, protect both immigrant and native-born workers, and provide a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants currently in this country. Some members of the House of Representatives insist on an enforcement-first, piecemeal approach that would serve only to exacerbate current immigration problems, force more workers into an underground economy, and lead to further exploitation and abuse. We support strong and humane border enforcement, but only as part of a comprehensive package that provides long-term solutions to this problem.

Should the House decide not to support the Senate-passed Bill, we would urge you to support a comprehensive House bill that includes a pathway to citizenship and a cap on temporary construction workers in addition to any enforcement provisions. None of the bills currently under consideration include these provisions. We are hopeful that the bill being drafted by the Gang of 7 will include these necessary provisions.

As stated above, LIUNA opposes RR. 1172, "The Legal Workforce Act" (LWA), among the other Bills, which may be considered by the U.S. House of Representatives this month. We believe that its requirement that all U.S. employers use E-Verify within 2 years is unrealistic and rushed. We also oppose the Act's definition of Local Union hiring halls as employers for the purpose of E-Verify. Local Unions do not employ the workers they dispatch. Rather, they are the legally recognized representatives of those workers. It is, and should remain, the responsibility of the employer to verify employment status. Moreover, LWA contains no provisions for workers to contest erroneous E-Verify findings, putting hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens and work-authorized immigrants at risk of losing their jobs.

Also, as you and your colleagues consider legislation that includes changes to existing worker visa programs in addition to new worker visa programs, LIUNA urges you not to abandon the caps and restrictions put in place by the Senate Bill under the W visa provisions. While we recognize the need to adjust foreign worker flows to enable employers to fill workforce shortages, without adequate worker protections and reasonable restrictions, guest worker programs only erode wages, benefits, and working conditions for both guest workers and U.S. citizens. The Senate Bill's formulas for, and caps on, the new W visa have the support of both labor unions and employer organizations, and the Bill strikes the right balance between workforce need and worker protection.
Currently there is no significant workforce shortage in the construction industry, and construction unemployment is at 9.8 percent. Employers willing to pay a fair wage should have little difficulty in finding qualified workers. The U.S. construction industry needs new jobs that build a strong middle class, not new guest workers paid low wages that drive all workers into poverty.
One hundred and ten (110) years ago, a small group of hard working, mostly immigrant hod carriers and building laborers stood up for their rights and established our Union. They and their descendants provided the life blood of this Union, and this country. Today, LIUNA is proud to count many new immigrants among our members, and as our brothers and sisters. We support a comprehensive, compassionate approach to immigration reform and a clear path to citizenship because it is sensible, practical, moral, and just. We call on you and your colleagues in the House of Representatives to do the same.
With kind regards, I am
Sincerely yours,
TERRY O'SULLIVAN General President
The half-million members of LIUNA – the Laborers' International Union of North America – are on the forefront of the construction industry, a powerhouse of workers who are proud to build America.
SOURCE Laborers' International Union of North America
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...e0+PRN20130719