Public Employee Press

Immigrants map action
More than 500 activists took an important step toward building a community-labor alliance for immigration reform at Feb. 21 conference.

District Council 37 local officers and members joined forces with immigrant rights activists and area unions including SEIU, HERE, TWU Local 100, the New York State AFL-CIO and the Central Labor Council on Feb. 21 for an all-day community labor conference.

High on their agenda were the effects of the Patriot Act on immigrants and the new immigration plan introduced by President Bush.

Some 500 activists from around the city participated in the “Immigrant Communities in Action: A Day of Dialogue” conference. Organized by the New York Civic Participation Project, a labor-community organizing project that includes DC 37, the meeting took place at the downtown headquarters of SEIU.

“The Day of Dialogue was a great opportunity to establish contact with many of the immigrant and advocacy organizations throughout the city,” said Juan Fernández, president of Amalgamated Professional Employees Local 154. He was a panelist in a workshop about rights on the job.

Maria Elena Durazo, national vice president of the hotel and restaurant workers’ union (HERE) and national chairperson of last year’s Immigrant Workers’ Freedom Ride, addressed the opening plenary session. She stressed the significance of the historic nationwide campaign that culminated in a massive rally in Flushing Meadows Park.

“People from all races and ethnic groups were together in that struggle,” said Ms. Durazo, “And that has left a permanent impression on communities across the nation.” The Feb. 21 conference was an effort to follow up on the Freedom Ride by moving toward a local community-labor alliance for immigration reform.

At the conference, the new Bush immigration plan drew sharp attacks. “It’s like an empty piñata,” said Brian Barrazo from Casa Mexico. Bush’s proposal would provide only temporary work permits for needed workers, with no guaranteed path to permanent residence or U.S. citizenship.

“The Bush plan will do nothing to strengthen protections for wages, benefits and other rights of immigrant and domestic workers,” said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney last month in response to the Bush plan. “It deepens the potential for abuse and exploitation of these workers while undermining wages and labor protections for all workers.”

Local 372 Executive Vice President Santos Crespo and DC 37 Citizenship Committee Chair Jacob Azeke participated in the workshop on the Patriot Act’s rollback of civil liberties. In a session on access to government services, SSEU Local 371’s Shirley Aldebol described the experiences of bilingual workers at the Human Resources Administration. Vice President Lionel Banaras and four other Local 1070 members provided simultaneous translations and got involved in the workshop discussions.

Conference speakers urged activists to support the Dream Act (S.1545). The plan would allow students who were brought to the United States as children to apply for conditional permanent residence if they graduate high school and complete two years of college or military service. Conferees also opposed the Clear Act (HR 2671), which would require local governments to authorize police officers to enforce immigration laws or lose federal funds.

Despite the difficult times ahead for immigrants, labor activists remain optimistic about the future. “There is a lot of great organizing work that is being done, several exciting campaigns,” said Héctor Figueroa, secretary-treasurer of SEIU.
“And we want to get as many people as possible involved in shaping the world around them,” he said.

Juan Fernández envisions labor playing a vital role in the struggle of immigrants. “The prominent presence of several unions at this event helped to make clear that the support for immigrant rights is going to be an integral part of labor’s agenda,” said the local president.

— Alfredo Alvarado