06/15/2007
"An Economist" writes
I have long had doubts about the SEIU. Frankly, it has struck me as a phony union, more devoted to promoting Open Borders than actually helping workers. It would appear that there is some substance to my skepticism. From the article "Who Killed the Immigration Bill, and Who Wants it to Come Back?" PoliticalAffairs.net, [David Bacon, June 13, 2007]
"Yet instead of raising wage and benefits to attract workers, or paying more taxes to improve education and training in working class communities, employers held that only huge guest worker programs could meet their labor needs. In an joint oped piece for Politico.com, Thomas Donahue, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Andy Stern, President of the Service Employees International Union (one of two unions that supported the tradeoff bills) stated that "we need legislation that will create a carefully monitored essential worker program," and called it "a system that provides U.S. businesses with the workers it needs.""
And from "The Working Class Is Not Stupid About Immigration" By Froma Harrop, May 22, 2007
"The SEIU covers many of the very people who take these jobs. It seems curious that the union does not mind adding another half million workers a year to compete with its own members. Its Website contends that America has a shortage of 10 million workers and that "nearly half of all jobs created from now until 2012 will be held by workers with a high school diploma or less."Duh — but don’t worker shortages cause wages to rise? The wages of "workers with a high school diploma or less" have been crashing through the floor. Or hasn’t the SEIU noticed that its contract "victories" are not that fabulous?
It’s hard to believe that the SEIU’s leaders are dumb. Rather, they ignore the law of supply and demand to cover another agenda. Thus, one can’t be sure whether the SEIU aspires to be a union representing workers or an arm of the National Council of La Raza, a group that claims to further the interests of Hispanics — and does a lousy job of it."
And from "Choosing Sides on Immigration" By Froma Harrop, June 05, 2007
"And it’s true that recent "victories" in unionizing low-skilled workers have produced paltry gains. For example, the Service Employees International Union managed to organize janitors in Los Angeles, but Briggs notes, "at wages way below what they were back in the 1970s." The strange part is that Los Angeles' janitors were highly unionized (and mostly African-American) until the '70s, when a surge in illegal immigration destroyed their bargaining power.The union last year organized janitors in Houston. For all these efforts, this largely Hispanic workforce saw its pay rise from a pitiful $5.25 an hour to a pathetic $6.25 — which is lower than the minimum wage in 21 states and the District of Columbia. Wages in the contract’s later years will barely exceed the new federal minimum."
Is the SEIU a front for "La Raza"?
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