Unions and the New Immigration Law
Introduction
The topic of this panel is the impact of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986′ (“IRCA”) on labor unions and their members. As a generalization, and I think I am going to be corrected in this generalization by the panelists, I think that the organized labor movement has always supported the tightening of the United States’ borders. There is a tendency, I think, by people outside the labor movement to see this as an aspect of liberalism or selfishness on the part of American unions.
But I think it is very hard to maintain a collective bargaining system and, at the same time, to have an unlimited flow of undocumented workers coming into the country. Collective bargaining is an attempt by unions to remove wages, hours, and working conditions from the competition of the marketplace. As such, it is always subject to the checks of the marketplace. When those checks are influenced by the unlimited flow of undocumented workers, in some sense, unfair competition exists.
Suggested Reading
From the Picket Line to the Courtroom: A Labor Organizing Privilege to Protect Workers
Labor organizing privilege is not a magic bullet that will secure the rights of workers to organize and collectively bargain. Employers will continue to resist the efforts of their workers to organize.
Labor Rights for Platform Workers: A response to Social Change’s 2016 Symposium
Naomi B. Sunshine∞ I.Introduction II. Why is Legislation Necessary? A. Labor Law B. Antitrust Law 1. The Labor Exemption 2. The State Action Exemption III. The Legislation A. Scope of Coverage B. Improvements on the NLRA C. Antitrust Avoidance IV.
Law and the Questions and Answers of Workplace Mobilization
Michael M. Oswalt∞ Organizing is risky. Some workers join in and get fired, others face intimidation and drop out, while most—sensing the tension between legal rights and remedial realities—simply opt out. And more and more, the campaigns—and the campaigners—are getting
Panel: Changing Economic Realities and the Changing Role of Unions
Panel on economic shifts of the 1980s and the response of the labor movement