Public Employee Press

Members march, Senate votes for
IMMIGRATION REFORM NOW

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

From Bangladesh to the Philippines, from Sacramento to New York City, workers worldwide jammed the streets May 1 demanding livable wages and safer working conditions. In more than 100 cities across the United States, unionists joined immigration activists for May Day rallies and marches and called for comprehensive immigration reform and an end to the deportation of undocumented workers.

The May Day marchers celebrated in June when the U.S. Senate passed an immigration reform bill that would provide a path to citizenship for some 11 million immigrants by a strong 68-32 majority. Although buoyed by the Senate victory, the reform drive faces a tough road in the US House of Representatives, where many Republicans hope to see it die.

"When new American citizens can freely organize, employers will no longer be able to exploit them. They will have a voice at work.

''And they will be a force for change," AFSCME President Lee Saunders told the May Day rally in Las Vegas.

In New York City thousands of activists marched from Union Square to City Hall Park for a rally.

DC 37 Executive Director Lillian Roberts and other labor leaders addressed the demonstrators, reminding them of the historic contributions of immigrants and the labor movement. "Trade unionists won the collective bargaining, health and pension benefits, that created the American middle class," she said.

AFSCME backs DREAMERS

While cautioning against the overuse of H-1B visas, AFSCME worked with a coalition of hundreds of unions and immigrant rights groups that pressed Congress to pass the bipartisan Border Security, Economic Opportunity and Immigration Modernization Act, which provides a route to citizenship for aspiring Americans, including the college students and military vets known as DREAMERS who were brought here as children.

Laura Reyes, secretary-Treasurer of DC 37's national union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, pushed for reform at a rally in San Diego.

"To fully contribute, the 11 million immigrants we call neighbors, family and friends must have a viable path to citizenship," she said. According to the Center for American Progress, a path to citizenship would add at least $832 billion to the economy over 10 years, stabilize the workforce and strengthen national security.

"We strongly support the reform legislation, which is long overdue," said Local 374 President and DC 37 Citizenship Committee Chair Cuthbert Dickenson at the May Day rally.