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butterbean · Joined: 21 Jun 2006 Posts: 2269

8/11/06
Organizing day laborers a challenge

LOS ANGELES -- Unions are increasingly courting immigrant day laborers in hopes of reversing a longtime decline in membership and clout. But labor experts say organizing a work force that is mobile and largely undocumented presents enormous logistical challenges and risks of alienating rank-and-file members.

"Everyday there are day laborers who walk in and say, 'I want a union,'" said Janice Fine, a labor professor at Rutgers University. "But the road to getting one is almost an impossible journey."

The Laborers' International Union announced Thursday that early next year it will begin recruiting day laborers in the construction industry to become full-fledged union members.

"We see unionizing in construction as a vehicle of growth," said union president Terence O'Sullivan. "We are looking to organize and give immigrant workers power."

The union, which represents about 700,000 construction and other workers nationwide, intends to recruit from day labor centers in California, Texas and Arizona.

The announcement came a day after the AFL-CIO, the nation's largest federation of unions, said it would work with the National Day Laborer Organizing Network to improve wages and working conditions for those who solicit work from street corners.

The agreement did not clear the way for day laborers to become union members, but both sides said it could be a step in that direction. The agreement calls for the network's 40 nationwide centers to affiliate with the federation and receive representation on local labor councils.

The AFL-CIO and the laborers union also intend to work toward reform that includes amnesty for the estimated 11 million illegal immigrants living in the United States.

"Ultimately the goal is unionization," said Richard Greer, a spokesman for the laborers union. "But everybody knows it's not going to happen tomorrow."

The largest organizing challenge stems from the nature of day labor.

The mostly Hispanic and undocumented workers routinely do different jobs each day for different employers.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1310AP_Day_Labor_Unions.html

Patriot · Site Admin Joined: 10 Jan 2006 Posts: 471

I saw this mentioned on the news yesterday. I couldnt believe they were doing this. A better solution would be to unionize the workers in Mexico. That way they would not have to come to our country to earn a decent wage. They could actually build a decent life for themselves in their own country.

Patriot