Government Threatens Employers with Fines
Unless They Fire All Undocumented Workers

On September 29, the American Apparel Company, a major garment factory in Los Angeles, announced it is firing 1,800 immigrant employees—a quarter of its work force — because federal investigators found discrepancies in the documents their workers presented when they were hired.

The factory is not a sweatshop. On the contrary, it pays its workers well above the industry standard and provides them with health benefits. Many of the workers who will lose their jobs have worked for the company for ten years or more.

The mass firings at American Apparel is the result of a new, more far-reaching attack on the millions of undocumented workers by forcing employers to discharge all immigrants whose identity papers are not in perfect order. The new policy, initiated by the Obama administration. replaces the workplace raids and mass roundups used by the Bush administration to ferret out undocumented workers for deportation.

Instead, employers would be threatened with civil complaints and be subject to fines and other penalties if they did not fire illegal immigrants in their employ..

The Federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency, known as ICE. is said to be auditing the employment records of 654 companies around the country in a hunt for “illegals.” “Now all manner of companies face the very real possibility that the government, using our basic civil powers, is going to come knocking on the door,” says John T. Morton, assistant secretary of Homeland Security.

The goal, Morton says, is to create a “truly national deterrent” to hiring unauthorized labor that would “change the practices of American employers as a class.” This is a clear declaration of war against the millions of illegal immigrants, living and working in the United States.

To add to the problem, legislation to provide immigrants with a path to full citizenship will be delayed to next year with no definite date for its introduction. There may be even further delays if there is no room on President Obama’s “full plate” to deal with immigration issues.

How Should Labor Respond to Mass Firings of ‘Illegals’?

It is surprising that the story of why and how 1,800 workers were fired at American Apparel did not appear on the web sites of either the AFL-CIO or Change to Win, nor has any top labor leader commented on the many issues the mass dismissals have raised for the labor movement.

There is the human factor: How can we help the families of millions of undocumented workers to survive if no employer is allowed to give any of them a job? How will they live? How will they feel about the United States? And should we be indifferent to their suffering and say this is their problem, not ours, because they broke our laws on citizenship?

There is the economic factor: Millions of undocumented workers are today employed in construction, agriculture, transportation and manufacturing industries, as well as in restaurants, hospitals, schools and retail services. What happens to our national economy if the Obama campaign to compel employers to fire them is successful? How will the nation’s businesses be able to function without disruption, even though some of those jobs are filled by unemployed citizens?

There is the political factor: The Latinos, the fastest-growing population in the U.S., are going to be very unhappy with the new Obama-inspired attacks on undocumented workers. Their disaffection may have serious consequences for the Democratic Party in the 2010 midterm elections. Surely, the Republicans will be able to exploit the resulting disruptions.

There is the union factor: Labor organizers have been counting on recruiting millions of immigrants after the passage of some form of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA). The current crackdown on illegal immigrants with the open collusion of employers will make it more difficult to organize them, if labor should remain passive toward their dire situation.

Our national union leaders cannot ignore the significance of the latest attacks on undocumented immigrants. If they remain silent, it will be seen as approval of a national plan to drive millions of immigrants from a place in the American economy. Shouldn’t we have a policy statement from the AFL-CIO’s three top officers and members of the Executive Council on this critical issue? — Harry Kelber

iLaborTalk (6) will be posted on Thursday, October 15, 2009