Early, Steve “How
To Organize Immigrant Labor” June 5, 1982
Main point: The influx of immigrants has drastically changed the demographics of the U.S. workforce in many manufacturing sectors. An inadequate understanding of the language and misconceptions of labor unions caused many of these undocumented workers to refrain from joining unions and seeking proper working conditions, rights, and monetary compensations.
Summary: Steve Early reports that a diverse wave of undocumented immigrants posed several problems to the unionization of laborers throughout the United States. Many of these immigrants were newcomers from various nations with distinct languages, traditions, and mentalities. Once arriving, many of these workers were satisfied with obtaining any job. They did not know the language very well so many of them were reluctant to speak out against employers for any injustices or unjust treatment of employees. Their lack of understanding of what unions were or how they worked made many of them hesitant to join them. These actions were both beneficial to employers but were grave towards employee’s rights.
The lack of participation in unions by immigrants provides employers with opportunities to “exploit the fears and insecurities” of these workers. Since these workers do not participate in labor unions they become victims of the system. It is easier for employers to fire these workers since they lack the proper representation and understanding of employee rights. Whenever a lay off occurred these were the first employees to go. Employers also used this segment of the labor force as a strategic defense in order to weaken the bargaining power of unions. These employees made a significant percentage of the labor force and labor unions needed their participation to achieve maximum power. Also many times employers tended to hire these immigrant workers from various nationalities in massive numbers at a time. By accomplishing this, employers could take advantage of language barriers among groups therefore turning them against each other.
Unions and employees suffer:
Since these immigrant workers did not comprehend the purpose of the unions, employee rights were often violated and unions also became weaker. Many times these employees lack the proper treatment by their employers. The language barrier prevented them from knowing what was happening in the company. Many times they were misinformed of vital information that they needed to know, such as in the case of an incorrect translated election notice.
Conclusion:
To avoid such problems, many unions developed multilingual and community oriented approaches to overcome those divisions. By recruiting minority staff members, unions could promote union cooperation through education and communication in a common language. Individuals such as Miguel Machuca and Nguyen Dinh travel to numerous factories to promote employee’s rights awareness and communicate to employees the importance of getting involved in labor union. Using the Lawrence strike of seventy years ago as an example, Early acknowledges the importance of organizing these diverse groups of workers and applying the same tactics to achieve the similar positive results.
Summary by Samuel Serrano