Unions and Undocumented Workers

For local unions, the dilemma over undocumented workers mirrors an internal debate engulfing organized movement nationally: to abandon its historical opposition to mass immigration or to embrace the trend to win new members.

In recent years, the AFL-CIO has taken the latter tack, supporting a guest worker program not unlike the plan backed by President Bush.

But when immigration disputes arise on a job site, the stance is often guided by more immediate concerns: whether there are enough union workers to do the job at hand and whether the union has time to pick a fight.

Source: Brian Donohue, Immigrant influx leads to tension with unions, Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), Oct. 2, 2005.

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