Immigration Reform that Respects Workers' Rights

Adopted by the CWA Executive Board April 18, 2006

America needs and deserves an immigration policy that protects all workers within our borders – both native-born and immigrant – and at the same time ensures our nation's safety and security without compromising fundamental civil rights and civil liberties.

Unfortunately, what we have seen from the Republican Congress and Bush administration are mean-spirited and selfish proposals that would classify immigrant workers as criminals or keep them in a permanent second-class and underclass status, benefiting only employers. Such proposals are unacceptable, because they undermine our nation's core values of equality and fair treatment. 

Clearly, our nation needs comprehensive reform that addresses national security but also provides a clear path to permanent residency and legalization for hardworking immigrant families who already are here, who already are paying taxes and contributing to our communities. We also must ensure that immigration reform safeguards the rights of all workers.

In demonstrations across the country, from California to Iowa to New York, working people – immigrant workers and native-born – have called for justice and fair treatment. Unions, religious, civil rights and community groups are joining together to make this our national policy. The AFL-CIO has outlined a comprehensive statement and plan that calls for the responsible reform of immigration law, and many unions, including ours, share these goals.       

Workers' rights must be at the heart of immigration reform. That's why it is critical that Congress reject the Bush administration efforts to expand "guest worker" programs, particularly the H-1B program and related visas that are provided to employers for technology workers and others supposedly in short supply in the US. 

Employers in the United States have sought to use guest worker programs to turn tens of thousands of permanent, good paying jobs into temporary jobs. Using the L and H-1B visa programs, employers have brought in thousands of workers to temporarily work as computer programmers, software engineers and designers and in other technical and professional positions, displacing employees in those jobs and lowering working conditions for all.

This exploitation of both U.S.-born and immigrant technical and professional workers has had a chilling effect on the employment, real earnings and working conditions of these professionals. 

Now, some in Congress would make that bad situation even worse. In considering its version of immigration reform, the Senate included a measure earlier passed by the Judiciary Committee that would nearly double – to 115,000 -- the number of H-1B visas that could be issued annually. We completely reject this approach.

We are not a nation of "guests," we are a nation of citizens. It's time for our elected officials to acknowledge that. 

Resolved: The Communications Workers of America will fight for immigration reform that includes a legalization process providing a path to citizenship for all workers presently here. Our nation also must acknowledge that workers' right are a core value that must be the centerpiece of reform legislation, including the right to bargain collectively and negotiate a contract.

Resolved: The Communications Workers of America will continue to strongly oppose the expansion of "guest worker" programs that relegate immigrant workers to permanent second-class and underclass status. There need to be penalties and enforcement on employers that import or hire workers illegally.

Resolved: The Communications Workers of America will work to reduce and eliminate the H-1B visa program, and supports current efforts to cut the number of such visas now permitted (currently 65,000 per year). We also call for the restoration of jobs and opportunity that have been lost to U.S. workers especially in technical and professional sectors, as too many companies seek to expand their bottom lines at workers' expense.