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"Obama, like Bush, is not interested in legalization for immigrants", interview to Immanuel Ness
"Obama, like Bush, is not interested in legalization for immigrants", interview to Immanuel Ness
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Obama, like Bush, is not interested in legalization for immigrants
(Traducido por Leonardo Kosloff)
This interview to Immanuel Ness, who teaches at Brooklyn college, was done for the organization Razon y Revolucion in Argentina. You can see the Spanish version here
Q: In what sectors are the immigrant workers mainly inserted and what are their working conditions?
We must differentiate immigrant workers from migrant workers. Immigrant workers constitute all those who seek to stay in the United States, migrants, include those who are temporary workers, or who have overstayed their visas, usually for work purposes. Migrant workers are employed in all labor markets in the US economy. However, the vast majority of migrant workers in the US who have arrived since the 1986 Immigration Law, are living and working in the US without documentation status. As a consequence, their wages are significantly lower, and it is more difficult to monitor safety in their workplaces. In the 1980s, migrant workers have entered an array of industries, from meatpacking and processing to domestic labor. Workers are employed under significantly lower wages than their predecessors in virtually every industry. As a whole migrant worker wages or lower, even those who arrive as temporary laborers in the information technology and hospitality sectors. More evidence shows they displace US-born workers who had higher wages, fewer hours, and safer working conditions.
Q: Are they organized politically or in unions? What attitude do unions have towards this sector?
In most sectors of the economy, immigrant and migrant workers are not organized into unions. The US unionization rate in the private sector hovers at around 5 percent of all workers. While immigrants have demonstrated greater interest in joining unions, those that seek to organize are prevented from doing so. In the Hoffman Plastics decision of April 2002, the US Supreme Court made it almost impossible for immigrants to organize independently, permitting employers who hire immigrant workers to fire those without documentation who organize into unions. This is no surprise, as the draconian legal system in the US is established to protect the capitalist class and to suppress working class activism.
Q: Has the situation changed under the Obama administration?
The Obama administration has done little to protect immigrants—in fact the number of industrial raids of immigrant workers by ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) has increased dramatically. Workers who are found to be working illegally are arrested and deported back to their home countries. The Obama administration has sought to pass “comprehensive immigration reform,” which would further undermine immigrant conditions, while only legalizing a segment of undocumented workers. By escalating the number of raids, the Obama administration is seeking to show that it can enforce the borders, and appeal to the nativist tradition among some workers. But ultimately the Obama administration supports the growth of migrant labor in the US, which is also a priority for corporations, who seek to expand the reserve army of labor by increasing competition from immigrant workers. In this respect, the Obama administration is not at all different from the reactionary policies of Bush’s regime.
Q: The crisis seemed to reactivate the attack against the working class: against the unions -in Wisconsin, for example- and against immigrant -with the Law of Arizona and the projects in Florida-. Can you describe these initiatives and others?
Precisely! The economic crisis is seen as pretext to further undermine the working class and unionization. The public sector is the core of the union movement in the US, and about 30-35 % of government workers are in unions. If the conditions of private sector workers have already been eviscerated through corporate efforts to oppose unions, they cannot continence union organization in the public sector. In Wisconsin, and many other states, both Republican and Democratic governments are seeking to reduce benefits among public sector workers. These workers are among the last workers who have comprehensive health insurance and pensions that provide for moderate wages that have been negotiated by their unions. The attack against the public sector, is not so much as an effort to reduce budget deficits as a means to erode working-class power in the US through de-unionization. We can expect these actions to continue as governors seek to cut budgets for medical care, education, and social services. A corollary to this is stripping unions of their rights to represent workers. The Wisconsin protests is just the most glaring example of the attack on unionization and the working class. However, while unions try to defend working conditions—they have failed to mobilize their own members through mass protests, and discouraged strikes as a means to ensure industrial peace.
The Arizona law that seeks to criminalize immigrant workers, and permits police to profile those who they think are living in the US without documentation was considered a major attack against the rights and civil liberties of foreigners as well as US residents who are viewed as undesirable in the US. In a number of states, nativist and xenophobic sentiment has grown among legislators who are seeking to appeal to the nationalist interests of revanchist workers. The Arizona law was overturned by the 9th Circuit Court. At the same time, initiatives to criminalize immigrants and migrants are advancing in other states, such as Utah, and Florida. These laws are pushing immigrants further into isolation, and contributing to a decline in their wages and working conditions. In brief, while some business opposes these efforts, which reduce the size of the reserve army of labor, capital can also take advantage of the anti-immigrant feelings by further driving down wages and imposing despotic conditions on immigrants. While anti-immigrant policies are driving immigrants into the shadows of society, capital can still secure the labor, only now immigrants have fewer rights and protections.
Q: Is the working class in general and the immigrants in particular planning to take any measures against these initiatives?
Workers and immigrants have not stopped struggling against capitalist abuse and the further decline of wages and working conditions. We are seeking a revival of Mayday protests, which in 2006 brought out millions of immigrant and migrant workers in major cities throughout the U.S. Immigrant efforts to mobilize themselves have not diminished as a result of the corporate assault on all workers. However, traditional labor unions that are led by entrenched bureaucrats have mostly not defended the interests of immigrants and other workers who are not members. They have engaged in concessionary bargaining. Consequently we seek the formation of new forms of worker organization, such as ROC United, representing restaurant workers and DWU, for domestic workers. These organizations are willing to mobilize immigrants and allow immigrants to mobilize themselves in these two sectors of the economy. While the organizations are not formally recognized as unions, they are engaging in class struggle and winning wage increases through protests and legal actions.
Q: Do you see a reactivation of the North American working class in defense of its conquests?
A reactivation of the North American working class will only occur with the unification of workers of all nationalities. Capital has always sought to divide workers by focusing on differences. But to revitalize a militant working class it is necessary for labor to overcome these differences and forge a militant movement against the corporate onslaught. This requires native-born and foreign-born members of the working class to unify and to understand that their struggle is identical. If workers fail to unify on the basis of class rather than identity, the fascist tendencies in US society may expand and conditions may worsen even further than today. Still, I maintain a positive perspective given the militant history of US and all North American workers against business. The question is agency and timing. As far as agency, traditional unions do not have the capacity or interest to mobilize immigrant and low-wage workers—and would like to return to the past New Deal era of stable collective bargaining without strikes. However, workers will not advance their conditions without militancy and strike actions. Ironically, the effort to render unions illegal in the public sector could contribute to a new wave of strikes and mass actions. As the class compromise of the last 75 years is undermined by capital, we must not forget that capital was most interested in creating a docile working class. Without legal parameters for struggle, workers will undoubtedly use new means to counter capital’s offensive.
Q: This year the immigrants are organizing a march for May day. Can you describe what the principal demands are and if you believe that the massive strike and march of 2006 can be repeated?
As in the past, immigrant workers are seeking legal status in the US. But the mass immigration strikes of 2006 were during a time when immigration reform was a possibility. Today the prospect of comprehensive immigration reform is not on the horizon. Moreover, the Obama, like Bush are not interested in legalizing all immigrants, but just a fraction. Many undocumented immigrants would be forced to return to their countries and reapply for legal residence. I do not think most immigrants seeking to stay in the US would want to return home, as the promises on the basis of empty promises of the US government. The government really wants to create a mass temporary work force that it can use and send back on a seasonal basis. The Mayday struggle of this year remains legalization of immigrants. While immigrants want to become “legally” regularized in the labor force with proper documentation, most of these same activists oppose the details of legislation. Most leftists believe strongly that we are better off without comprehensive immigration reform than those that are proposed by the government. But make no mistake, immigrant demands for rights and their self-organization will remain a major theme of Mayday.
Q: In what sectors are the immigrant workers mainly inserted and what are their working conditions?
We must differentiate immigrant workers from migrant workers. Immigrant workers constitute all those who seek to stay in the United States, migrants, include those who are temporary workers, or who have overstayed their visas, usually for work purposes. Migrant workers are employed in all labor markets in the US economy. However, the vast majority of migrant workers in the US who have arrived since the 1986 Immigration Law, are living and working in the US without documentation status. As a consequence, their wages are significantly lower, and it is more difficult to monitor safety in their workplaces. In the 1980s, migrant workers have entered an array of industries, from meatpacking and processing to domestic labor. Workers are employed under significantly lower wages than their predecessors in virtually every industry. As a whole migrant worker wages or lower, even those who arrive as temporary laborers in the information technology and hospitality sectors. More evidence shows they displace US-born workers who had higher wages, fewer hours, and safer working conditions.
Q: Are they organized politically or in unions? What attitude do unions have towards this sector?
In most sectors of the economy, immigrant and migrant workers are not organized into unions. The US unionization rate in the private sector hovers at around 5 percent of all workers. While immigrants have demonstrated greater interest in joining unions, those that seek to organize are prevented from doing so. In the Hoffman Plastics decision of April 2002, the US Supreme Court made it almost impossible for immigrants to organize independently, permitting employers who hire immigrant workers to fire those without documentation who organize into unions. This is no surprise, as the draconian legal system in the US is established to protect the capitalist class and to suppress working class activism.
Q: Has the situation changed under the Obama administration?
The Obama administration has done little to protect immigrants—in fact the number of industrial raids of immigrant workers by ICE (Immigration Customs Enforcement) has increased dramatically. Workers who are found to be working illegally are arrested and deported back to their home countries. The Obama administration has sought to pass “comprehensive immigration reform,” which would further undermine immigrant conditions, while only legalizing a segment of undocumented workers. By escalating the number of raids, the Obama administration is seeking to show that it can enforce the borders, and appeal to the nativist tradition among some workers. But ultimately the Obama administration supports the growth of migrant labor in the US, which is also a priority for corporations, who seek to expand the reserve army of labor by increasing competition from immigrant workers. In this respect, the Obama administration is not at all different from the reactionary policies of Bush’s regime.
Q: The crisis seemed to reactivate the attack against the working class: against the unions -in Wisconsin, for example- and against immigrant -with the Law of Arizona and the projects in Florida-. Can you describe these initiatives and others?
Precisely! The economic crisis is seen as pretext to further undermine the working class and unionization. The public sector is the core of the union movement in the US, and about 30-35 % of government workers are in unions. If the conditions of private sector workers have already been eviscerated through corporate efforts to oppose unions, they cannot continence union organization in the public sector. In Wisconsin, and many other states, both Republican and Democratic governments are seeking to reduce benefits among public sector workers. These workers are among the last workers who have comprehensive health insurance and pensions that provide for moderate wages that have been negotiated by their unions. The attack against the public sector, is not so much as an effort to reduce budget deficits as a means to erode working-class power in the US through de-unionization. We can expect these actions to continue as governors seek to cut budgets for medical care, education, and social services. A corollary to this is stripping unions of their rights to represent workers. The Wisconsin protests is just the most glaring example of the attack on unionization and the working class. However, while unions try to defend working conditions—they have failed to mobilize their own members through mass protests, and discouraged strikes as a means to ensure industrial peace.
The Arizona law that seeks to criminalize immigrant workers, and permits police to profile those who they think are living in the US without documentation was considered a major attack against the rights and civil liberties of foreigners as well as US residents who are viewed as undesirable in the US. In a number of states, nativist and xenophobic sentiment has grown among legislators who are seeking to appeal to the nationalist interests of revanchist workers. The Arizona law was overturned by the 9th Circuit Court. At the same time, initiatives to criminalize immigrants and migrants are advancing in other states, such as Utah, and Florida. These laws are pushing immigrants further into isolation, and contributing to a decline in their wages and working conditions. In brief, while some business opposes these efforts, which reduce the size of the reserve army of labor, capital can also take advantage of the anti-immigrant feelings by further driving down wages and imposing despotic conditions on immigrants. While anti-immigrant policies are driving immigrants into the shadows of society, capital can still secure the labor, only now immigrants have fewer rights and protections.
Q: Is the working class in general and the immigrants in particular planning to take any measures against these initiatives?
Workers and immigrants have not stopped struggling against capitalist abuse and the further decline of wages and working conditions. We are seeking a revival of Mayday protests, which in 2006 brought out millions of immigrant and migrant workers in major cities throughout the U.S. Immigrant efforts to mobilize themselves have not diminished as a result of the corporate assault on all workers. However, traditional labor unions that are led by entrenched bureaucrats have mostly not defended the interests of immigrants and other workers who are not members. They have engaged in concessionary bargaining. Consequently we seek the formation of new forms of worker organization, such as ROC United, representing restaurant workers and DWU, for domestic workers. These organizations are willing to mobilize immigrants and allow immigrants to mobilize themselves in these two sectors of the economy. While the organizations are not formally recognized as unions, they are engaging in class struggle and winning wage increases through protests and legal actions.
Q: Do you see a reactivation of the North American working class in defense of its conquests?
A reactivation of the North American working class will only occur with the unification of workers of all nationalities. Capital has always sought to divide workers by focusing on differences. But to revitalize a militant working class it is necessary for labor to overcome these differences and forge a militant movement against the corporate onslaught. This requires native-born and foreign-born members of the working class to unify and to understand that their struggle is identical. If workers fail to unify on the basis of class rather than identity, the fascist tendencies in US society may expand and conditions may worsen even further than today. Still, I maintain a positive perspective given the militant history of US and all North American workers against business. The question is agency and timing. As far as agency, traditional unions do not have the capacity or interest to mobilize immigrant and low-wage workers—and would like to return to the past New Deal era of stable collective bargaining without strikes. However, workers will not advance their conditions without militancy and strike actions. Ironically, the effort to render unions illegal in the public sector could contribute to a new wave of strikes and mass actions. As the class compromise of the last 75 years is undermined by capital, we must not forget that capital was most interested in creating a docile working class. Without legal parameters for struggle, workers will undoubtedly use new means to counter capital’s offensive.
Q: This year the immigrants are organizing a march for May day. Can you describe what the principal demands are and if you believe that the massive strike and march of 2006 can be repeated?
As in the past, immigrant workers are seeking legal status in the US. But the mass immigration strikes of 2006 were during a time when immigration reform was a possibility. Today the prospect of comprehensive immigration reform is not on the horizon. Moreover, the Obama, like Bush are not interested in legalizing all immigrants, but just a fraction. Many undocumented immigrants would be forced to return to their countries and reapply for legal residence. I do not think most immigrants seeking to stay in the US would want to return home, as the promises on the basis of empty promises of the US government. The government really wants to create a mass temporary work force that it can use and send back on a seasonal basis. The Mayday struggle of this year remains legalization of immigrants. While immigrants want to become “legally” regularized in the labor force with proper documentation, most of these same activists oppose the details of legislation. Most leftists believe strongly that we are better off without comprehensive immigration reform than those that are proposed by the government. But make no mistake, immigrant demands for rights and their self-organization will remain a major theme of Mayday.
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