Statement of Mark H. Ayers, President of the Building and Construction Trades Department, on Immigration

WASHINGTON, Jan. 25, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- America's Building Trades Unions joined a unified labor movement in urging congress to pursue a solution to our broken immigration system that is comprehensive and that puts workers first.  A significant component of the framework for reform was a secure and effective worker authorization mechanism. In light of the recent legislative setbacks and the transfer of power in the U.S. House of Representatives it seems impossible that the full comprehensive solution sought will be debated or enacted any time in the near future.

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However, workers, documented and undocumented, continue to suffer at the hands of exploitive unscrupulous employers' day in and day out.  We know that the House Judiciary Committee will launch a series of hearings that combine concerns over job creation with a strategy to enhance immigration enforcement efforts through tools like E-verify and others intended to strengthen worksite verification.

Some have argued that absent a comprehensive strategy for reform we must not consider enforcement strategies, we do not agree. Now is not the time to remain silent and protect the status quo.  We must continue to work and ensure that all who are contributing to the exploitation of workers are exposed. Unscrupulous employers who pursue low-road strategies with little regard for labor, health and safety laws must fear reprisals.  While currently imperfect, we must continue working to make tools like E-verify stronger and more effective.  Strategies must be sought to enhance the integrity of data, and employers should face strict liability for using the immigration status of a vulnerable workforce to put downward pressure on wages and standards.

And in these difficult times of high unemployment it is important that we create an effective method to ensure that only authorized workers have access to jobs.  If we do nothing to prevent undocumented workers from entering the workplace we are doing nothing to address the ability of employers to exploit them and negatively impact industry standards.   Hence, those who advocate doing nothing on enforcement support the status quo. 

America's Building Trades Unions remain fully committed to a comprehensive immigration solution.  Absent the ability to enact one, we must also remain vigilant in our defense of the jobs and labor standards of our membership.

The Building and Construction Trades Department is an alliance of 13 national and international unions that collectively represent over 2 million skilled craft professionals in the United States and Canada

SOURCE Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO

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