AFL-CIO stance on immigration
| AFL-CIO | |
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| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Washington, D.C. |
| Type: | 501(c)(5) |
| Top official: | Richard Trumka, President |
| Year founded: | 1955 |
| Website: | Official website |
| AFL-CIO |
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| Read more about the AFL-CIO: •AFL-CIO stance on immigration |
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly known as the AFL-CIO, is a 501(c)(5), national trade union. The labor organization is the largest federation of unions in the United States.[1] The group supports immigration reform, including policies that provide paths for citizenship for undocumented workers.[2].
This page outlines some of the notable stances of the AFL-CIO concerning immigration policies in the United States.
Organizational principles concerning immigration
In July 2016, the AFL-CIO outlined 12 key principles in their stance on immigration policy. These 12 points articulate the AFL-CIO's stance on immigration and their belief in worker's rights.
- Historical role: The AFL-CIO argues that the labor movement has long since been an advocate for equality, stating that the movement has advocated for equality "across lines of race, gender and sexual orientation, as well as national origin, nationality and immigration status."[3]
- Opportunity: According to the AFL-CIO, immigrant workers have the potential to improve and innovate within economic and social spheres. Allowing them the opportunity to obtain work visas, argues the AFL-CIO, would help to end biases and exploitation and foster growth. Work visas would also help to guarantee "adequate rights and fair treatment."[3]
- Work visa quotas: The AFL-CIO contends that an independent commission that determines the needs of the labor market should be created. The commission would recommend to Congress in what sectors and geographical locations that there is a labor shortage in order to determine how many work visas would be necessary annually. The AFL-CIO also argues that "Trade agreements are not an appropriate vehicle to set or adjust visa quotas."[3]
- Underutilized skills: According to the AFl-CIO, minorities are not well represented in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). The AFL-CIO advocates for more equality in these areas and better access to these fields for minorities, including investing in STEM education for minorities.[3]
- Opposition to temporary staffing agencies: The AFL-CIO argues that temporary staffing agencies, while one of the largest recipients of skilled labor visas, do not offer sponsorship, neglect local workforces, do not offer permanent placement, and "overwhelmingly pay the lowest wages allowed by law."[3] The AFL-CIO also argue that such companies "have a business model that seeks to move as much work overseas as possible."[3] The AFL-CIO maintains that such companies should not be allowed to receive work visas from the government.[3]
- Equal pay: The AFL-CIO advocates for equal wages, benefits, and work conditions for all workers doing the same job. This, according to the AFL-CIO, should also include workers with temporary work visas.[3]
- Organizing: According to the AFL-CIO, "immigration status can be used to divide working people."[3] The AFL-CIO argues that immigrants working together could bring about change and reform in the work place and collective bargaining would create equality.[3]
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- Longterm employment: The AFL-CIO argues that permanent jobs, rather than temporary jobs, create stable work environments and that work visa workers should be placed in permanent positions on a permanent basis instead on a temporary basis. The AFL-CIO contends that temporary workers in permanent positions create "insecure, disposable work" and undermines "direct employment relationship through subcontracting and other fissured work arrangements."[3]
- Diverse employment work visas: The AFl-CIO contends that work visas should not be linked to a single employer and that when an immigrant worker leaves an employer, their immigration status should not be threatened.[3]
- Justified outside employment: The AFL-CIO advocates that employers should provide evidence of a labor shortage prior to hiring workers from outside the U.S., in order "to prevent the misuse of work visas by employers who seek to drive down wages or labor standards, or to discriminate against women or people of color."[3]
- Work visa transparency: The AFL-CIO supports transparency in employment-based visa programs. It argues that the public should be able to see why companies recruit outside of the U.S. and how such recruitment impacts local workforces and economies. The AFL-CIO also argues that the U.S. Department of Labor should be adequately funded to effectively enforce regulations and prevent fraud within the work visa program.[3]
- Immigration Reform: The AFL-CIO advocates for immigration reform that includes a path to citizenship, which also considers the needs of working families and equality.[3]
Work
Advocacy
Three movements
The AFL-CIO supports immigration reform and advocates for undocumented workers to gain citizenship. The group's immigration advocacy is broken down into three movements: organizing immigrant workers, building a power base through citizenship, and political mobilization.
Organizing immigrant workers
Organizing immigrant workers, according to the AFL-CIO, is a movement that seeks to consolidate efforts in areas where there are high concentrations of immigrants. The AFL-CIO argues that law enforcement must change to help the organization of immigrant workers, stating that "immigration enforcement occurs in the midst of an organizing drive, a bargaining campaign, or a concerted job action," disrupting efforts.[2] The AFL-CIO contends that through organizing, immigrants would have the ability to speak out for themselves, which "is critical to enforcing basic labor standards, and no one should have to risk deportation simply for exercising their workplace rights."[2]
Building political power for immigrant workers through citizenship
Building a power base through citizenship will allow immigrant workers to have more control over their work, according to the AFL-CIO. The AFL-CIO notes that unions across the country have begun to help in the effort to naturalize immigrant workers. However, the AFL-CIO argues that "Obstacles to naturalization function as voter suppression against communities of color, much like voter identification and strict voter registration laws, so we will do everything we can to help broaden the base of working people able to take part in the electoral process."[2]
Political mobilization of immigrant workers
Political mobilization, the AFL-CIO states, is a voter engagement movement that would help immigrant workers better understand elections, political policy, and how they relate to the "working people."[2] Political mobilization includes using first language communication to ensure that immigrant workers understand policy stances.[2]
Education
In addition to policy proposals, the AFL-CIO writes and distributes educational material on immigration policies for its members and for the public. The organization's website compiles resources in both English and Spanish that aim to give readers facts about immigration and educate workers about the rights of immigrants in the United States.[4] The AFL-CIO also compiles fact sheets about specific immigration policies, like the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policies.[5]
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms AFL-CIO immigration. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedmission - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 AFL-CIO, "Organize, Naturalize and Mobilize for Just Immigration," July 30, 2015
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 AFL-CIO, "Statement of Principles on Immigration and the High-Skilled Workforce," accessed July 26, 2016
- ↑ AFL-CIO, "Why Immigration Status Matters," accessed March 18, 2017
- ↑ AFL-CIO, "What is Deferred Action and What Does it Mean for Workers?" accessed March 18, 2017
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