Immigrant Workers' Rights

Change to Win continues to play a leading role in the movement to defend the rights of immigrant workers to join a union and be protected on the job. The fight for fair treatment and legal protection for immigrant workers in this country is inextricably linked to the fight for better wages, benefits, and working conditions for all workers. We will not allow workers to be pitted one against the other because of their national origin. Everything labor has ever won came by building a grassroots movement and strong community alliances. Our unions have been organizing and fighting for the rights of immigrant workers, and we will continue to do.

These are the immigration reform principles that Change to Win unions are united on:

Provide a Workable Path to Legalization for Undocumented Workers

Undocumented workers who have established themselves should be able to earn legal status and citizenship if they work, pay taxes, learn English, undergo background checks, and pay a fine.
Undocumented workers must have the freedom to change jobs, and not be tied to any one employer because of their immigration status.
A stable and legal supply of farm workers should be provided by passing the Agricultural Job Opportunity, Benefits and Security (AgJOBS) Act, which would permit undocumented farm workers to obtain temporary immigration status with the possibility of becoming permanent residents, and would permit employers to hire a limited number of workers to fill seasonal agricultural jobs.
Our future labor force should be strengthened by passing the DREAM Act, which would ensure that eligible undocumented students can legalize their status so they can go to college and contribute to our economy.

Protect the Wages and Working Conditions of All Workers

All undocumented workers should have the same labor, employment, and civil rights protections that U.S. citizens enjoy, otherwise discrimination and exploitation are inevitable.
All undocumented workers should have the right to organize into a union and to receive back pay for being illegally fired; the right to fair and prevailing wages; the right to a safe and healthy worksite; and whistleblower protections that protect them from employer retaliation.
Employers must be prohibited from misclassifying immigrant workers as independent contractors or from using subcontracting arrangements to avoid their responsibilities as employers because these schemes allow them to avoid paying payroll taxes and deny workers labor, employment and civil rights protections.

Hold Employers Accountable for Seeking to Exploit Undocumented Workers

A strong employment verification system is needed that is accurate and efficient, contains sufficient due process and privacy protections, minimizes workplace disruptions and prevents discrimination.
Once reforms are put in place providing an earned path to citizenship for undocumented workers already here, tough legal penalties should apply to employers who recruit, hire or exploit undocumented workers, produce fraudulent documents, retaliate against workers who exercise their labor rights, or evade the payment of taxes on undocumented workers.

Secure Our Borders

A major overhaul of the immigration system will make border enforcement more realistic and doable. Improvements to border enforcement should include "smart border" measures that combine personnel, equipment and technology to reduce illegal immigration; efficient processing and fair proceedings; and strategies that focus on detecting and deterring terrorists and cracking down on criminal smugglers and employers that break the law.

Keep Immigrant Families Together

The Department of Homeland Security should not engage in military-style raids of workplaces that subject workers and their families to inhumane treatment and violate their basic due process rights.
Our immigrant quota system should be updated so that families do not have to wait years to be reunited, and so that a major cause of illegal immigration is removed.
The federal government should reduce the long administrative backlog that exists in processing legal permanent resident visas, or "green cards".

Solve Economic Problems that are a Root Cause of Immigration

The U.S. government must reverse current harmful "free trade" policies that hurt workers in developing countries by undercutting their domestic agriculture programs and by preventing strong unions from forming that could lead to higher wages and better working conditions.
The U.S. government should implement strong investment and aid programs that will promote job growth in primary migrant-exporting areas, including infrastructure development and improved educational opportunities.