 REPORT FAULTS UNION RECRUITMENT EFFORTS AMONG IMMIGRANTS
A recent report from the Center for Immigration Studies claims that increased immigration will hurt unions. According to the report, “American Unions and U.S. Immigration Policy,” immigration will increase competition for low skilled jobs, alienate US workers and make it more difficult for unions to bargain with employers. Moreover, the report concludes that undocumented workers granted amnesty would not join unions in significant numbers.
The report, written by Vernon M. Briggs, concludes that organized labor in the US has, for most of its history, been opposed to immigration. While this is true to an extent – for example, unions were a motivating force behind the banning of immigration from Asia early this century, as well as the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act, which created sanctions on employers who hire undocumented workers – critics of the report note that immigrants have played a fundamental role in US labor unions. Also, some argue that the report fails to take into consideration the changing role of unions. While unions are still concerned about the status of US workers, there is a growing recognition that the workforce is increasingly global, and that many businesses will move production outside the US, regardless of immigrant workers in the US.
Many analysts have concluded that the report is nothing more than a political statement trying to support the Center’s position that immigration should be decreased. According to Demetrious Papademetriou, a director of the Migration Policy Institute, organized labor’s call for amnesty for undocumented workers could just as easily lead to an increase in union membership, and increase the bargaining power of unions by decreasing the number of undocumented workers willing to work for less than union members. Others argue that supporting undocumented immigrants will likely lead to an increase in union membership.
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