i brought up the plight of the undocumented in the article about the LI construction firm paying the undocumented 'off-the-books'

the teaser...

"Score one for the good guys , while union contractors put money into the tax system , the unscrupulous non-union contractors that do everything to cut corners and costs to underbid them usually skate bye with no penalties"

Long Island NY Contractor evades taxes on illegal labor

and also in the article with the union vs. non- union construction workers fighting in the streets of manahattan

the teaser....

"In New York unscroupulous contractors are taking advantage of undocumented workers in all areas of construction , even on the newest high-rises in the city itself , with complete disregard of a decent days wage and safety concerns , the workers are threatened with firing or deportation if they act up ."

even in all the local deli's and pizza joints these guys break their ass , and for less than minimum wage with the threat of firing and/or deportation every step of the way .

recently one of the local major non-union construction sites had 51% of its concrete (and related trades) workers sign union recognition cards , the NLRB vote came 1 and 1/2 months later , of the 120 people voting (mostly undocumented from Ecquador and parts of Africa) , 114 of them decided to remain Non-union , can you imagine what transpired at that jobsite ? Probably showed them the Tar Heel , NC Smithfield Raid

http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/051807LA.shtml

From that page :

"The raid's shock waves swept outwards from the factory through the barrios of the small Southern towns around it, leaving behind children with missing mothers or fathers. Parents were afraid to go to work or send their kids to school. The terror it inspired dealt a body blow to the plant's union organizing drive as well, just when it was making real progress: Overcoming ten years of lost elections and Smithfield's hardball anti-union campaigns, workers were just beginning to lose their fear. Fired employees had been rehired after years of court appeals. Union supporters were discovering that collective action on the line could actually make conditions better. That rising consciousness was the raid's biggest casualty.

Indeed, according to many workers, those organizing efforts, and not the 21 detained workers, were the real target of the raid. Mark Lauritsen, packinghouse director for the United Food and Commercial Workers, says the Department of Homeland Security and the company "were worried about people organizing a union, and the government said, 'Here are the tools to take care of them.'"

Smithfield isn't alone. Workplaces with union contracts or organizing drives have been hit by a wave of immigration enforcement over the last year. At the CINTAS industrial laundry chain, 400 workers were picked up for deportation from multiple plants during a national drive by the hotel union UNITE HERE. In the Woodfin Suites hotel in Emeryville, California, managers terminated workers for allegedly being undocumented, after they tried to enforce the city's living wage ordinance."

_________________________

there arent enough penalties for the people and companies that employ the undocumented , and when ICE (immigration and customs enforcement) comes strolling along its for the bosses not for the workers , you or me .

hence the unfair advantage the non-union construction secter here in NY has , they go without paying taxes , they break the law hiring undocumented workers , they do not bother with safety concerns (if an employee has one what can he do?) , they do not pay the going rate for the trades , they hold the status of the workers over thier heads , they do not have any accrediated apprenticeship or training programs , they work till all hours of the night , they do not have medical insurance (pushing the cost of medical on the tax paying), the list goes on .......

l ike the American Indians , the Africans , Mexicans and Chineese beforehand , the plight of the "slave class" marches on

heres a particularly good set of articles on the "slave" class in America , from a great independent magazine .

Utne Reader March / April 2007

i applaud the removal of any advantage these unscroupulous employers have .

L8tr,

Joe