By: Clarissa Garcia

Kevin A. Schmelzlen

Nicholas Grover

Sandra Chavez

Thomas Lee

Trade Union- an organization of workers who have banded together to achieve common goals in key areas such as wages and hours.

Collective Bargaining- A system of industrial democracy in respects to labor participation in managerial decision making.

AFL-CIO- The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations which represents over 11 million workers in various work sectors.

The Change to Win Federation- A federation which spilt from the AFL-CIO in 2005 to challenge the global economy to restore the “American Dream.”

The first trade union was created in 1866 and it was referred to as the National Labor Union.

This union didn’t last long but it paved the way for future American unions.

Following the NLU was the Knights of Labor founded in 1869.

This trade union excluded Chinese and partially included African Americans and women.

The Knights of Labor union opposed child labor and demanded an 8 hour work day.

In 1884 during the railroad wage cut strike membership soared to 700,000 people.

A rapid decline soon followed on May 4, 1886 with the Haymarket Massacre.

The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was founded by Samuel Gompers and by 1904 membership reached to over 1.4 million nationwide.

The AFL established the use of collective bargaining.

H.R. 4437-Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005-Passed the House of Representatives but not in the Senate-It was meant to strengthen enforcement of the immigration laws and enhance border security-The bill would have made helping undocumented people stay in the U.S. a crime-This would directly affect unions because employers would be able to threaten undocumented workers with deportation, thus frightening them into submission-Workers would therefore be afraid to join unions and surrender their rights

S. 2611-Comprehension Immigration Reform Act of 2006-It is different from H.R. 4437 in that it allows for immigrants to become citizens-5 years—can apply for citizenship-2-5 years—can stay for an extra 3 years but after that time period they must leave the U.S. and they can apply for citizenship at border check points-2 years or less—must return to their home countries-It toughened penalties for labor law violations by employers in high-risk, low-wage industries that employ migrant workers-Had this bill passed unions believed that immigrant workers would have been more likely to join a union because they wouldn’t be threatened with deportation

AFL-CIO-When the Senate introduced legislation in 2007 that would legalize approximately 12 million immigrants and introduce a new guest worker program the AFL-CIO came out against the bill-The bill would affect large numbers of manufacturing unions and create competition in the workforce due to the exploitation of immigrants as a cheaper labor source-temporary workers who would have the opportunity to hold non-seasonal jobs were also seen as a threat to American workers

Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Unite Here, The Change to Win Federation-These unions for the most part represent workers with various occupations such as hotel employees, restaurant employees, laundry and textile workers.-There has been a rise in membership in these unions because a large number of their members are immigrants.-SEIU claims to have more immigrant members than any other union at 1.8 million-With a new 12 million potential members these unions see it as an opportunity to gain prominence and growth-The Change to Win Federation is a collection of 7 unions and over 6 million workers who, like the SEIU, fight to create a workable path to legalization for undocumented immigrants.-They also believe that the government should ensure the safety and wages of immigrant workers to avoid exploitation and discrimination

The two dominant ideologies are as follows:-To embrace the immigrants, both legal and illegal, and incorporate them into the workforce as a whole

In opposition, the other ideology is to advocate a means of making the border infrastructure tight and keep the migrant workers out in order to preserve the stability of the nation’s economy

During the midterm election in 2006, unions spent more than $66 million to support political candidates who they felt would support their agendas.

In 2007, the AFL-CIO and its allies succeeded in getting the Senate to limit the proposed temporary workers program to only 5 years.

Additionally the Senate voted to half of the total guest worker program at only 200,000 workers a year and also to phase it out after the 5 year mark was reached.

The AFL-CIO spent $53 million and its trade union affiliates $250 million to help Barack Obama in the 2008 Presidential election

Obama had promised to push for and sign the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) should Congress pass the measure

The AFL-CIO and the Center for Labor Renewal (CLR) are more focused on modern issues of globalization and corporate exploitation and less community based so their proposition calls for a mass immigration reform

They are against guest-worker programs The Change to Win Federation believes that

immigrants should have rights and the ability to change jobs without being tied down to one employer due to their immigrant status.

President Obama said the following quote: “We need immigration reform that will secure our

borders, and punish employers who exploit immigrant labor.”