[AAACE-NLA] Immigration and adult ed
Laurie Sheridan
laurie_sheridan at worlded.org
Thu May 24 10:22:20 EDT 2007
I too will be interested in seeing people's answers to this. Over the
years I have seen and heard of many, many incidences of employers here
in Massachusetts refusing to pay overtime, paying below minimum wage,
not paying for full hours worked, or even not paying at all. Most
recently, here in Mass., following the recent ICE raid on the Michael
Bianco plant in New Bedford, where nearly 350 workers were rounded up,
taken from their families, and shipped out to Texas for possible
deportation, a group of them have sued the employer for (alleged) unfair
labor practices including setting up a phony "shadow" company and
forcing them to clock back in for an additional daily shift without
having to pay overtime (this is the company that makes leather backpacks
for U.S. troops in Iraq!) Restaurants, laundries, and smaller
manufacturing plants that employ undocumented immigrants often engage in
such practices, too, and it's sometimes even worse for the more
individualized occupations like cleaning, landscaping, and babysitting.
Undocumented workers are frequently at an unscrupulous employer's mercy,
with little recourse even to the rights they technically, legally have,
as they fear losing their jobs and/or being deported.
So, it's wise to warn undocumented students about this, what to look
out for and what to avoid, if possible. BTW, if workers are underpaid
or "shorted" on overtime hours, these are usually violations of state
and/or Federal fair labor practice laws and can be reported to the state
Dept. of Labor. Undocumented workers typically have rights that they
don't know they have or are afraid to exercise. What helps the most is
being in a union, but that's too often not the case. Short of a union,
the best defense is for a group of workers to make an unfair labor
practices complaint to the state labor DOL or its equivalent.
Sometimes, too, they are covered by "whistle-blower" protection
statutes, so they cannot be fired, but that is somewhat tricky.
I would like to add to your list, Andres, terrible health and safety
conditions at work, which are often a fact of life for undocumented
immigrant workers. I used to be the director of the Mass. Coalition for
Occupational Safety and Health, part of a national network of such
organizations, where we found (and still find) undocumented workers in
the most unhealthy, often life-threatening work environments, including
having to work with toxic chemicals and substances like lead and
asbestos; lacking important safety equipment; and/or having little or no
training. For many years, in our state and others, the majority of
worker injuries and deaths on the job have occurred to immigrant
workers. I don't know how many of them are undocumented (no one knows),
but given their vulnerability to employer pressure and to economic need,
it stands to reason that it's not hard for employers to push them to
continue to work no matter what the conditions. Even though OSHA has
had a no-report policy to ICE, so workers are not identified if they
make a safety complaint, workers are reluctant to blow any whistle on
unsafe or unhealthy conditions because they fear losing their jobs.
Employers, knowing this, often take advantage of it. It may cut costs
and boost production speed but it sickens and kills an enormous number
of workers. Landscaping, trash recycling, light manufacturing, and
heavy manual labor are typically not the safest or healthiest
occupations anyway, and the service jobs that undocumented immigrants do
like babysitting and cleaning also offer hazards, as well as isolated
work where it's difficult to get any help from anyone. Add to that the
frequent incidence of sexual harassment and sexual violence in these
occupations, and you have a fearsome situation for many undocumented
workers.
You can get more info about much of this from www.coshnetwork.org or
looking up one of the state coalitions for occupational safety and
health on that site. Most of them work extensively with immigrants,
documented or not, and can provide more information and assistance.
The reports released at the recent annual observances of "Workers'
Memorial Day" on April 26 tell a lot about the deadly working conditions
faced by undocumented workers, occupation by occupation, state by state,
and by name and cause of accident.
I know most people need to work and earn a living, but no one should
have to risk their life or health to do so. So, in addition to helping
students acquire the skills they need to obtain jobs, we need to provide
curricula and information that prepare them for the conditions they may
face at work, the rights they do in fact have, and some information
about where and how to avoid the worst conditions. If anyone wants more
information about this, I have lots and would be glad to share.
Laurie Sheridan
>>> <andresmuro at aol.com> 5/24/2007 1:52 AM >>>
has any of your students gone to apply for a job at any of these
places where they hire undocumented? Have they been turned down or
offered below minimum wage? If so, they should identify the entity that
is paying below minimum wage and even report the entity to the local
legislative representative. It is up to the gov to sanction bad
employment practices. Also, are your hs students considering college?
Also, a lot of undocumented do yardwork, baby sit, clean houses, etc.
Have your students tried working as gardeners, maids, babysitters, etc?
Andres
Please take a look at my artwork: www.geocities.com/andresmuro/art.html
-----Original Message-----
From: Anita Landoll <amlandoll at yahoo.com>
To: National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by AAACE
<aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
Sent: Wed, 23 May 2007 5:45 am
Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] Immigration and adult ed
I am still awaiting an answer to my questions: How do
we provide jobs at a living wage for our citizens? My
high school students in Southside VA are quite
pessimistic about future employment. Yet all around us
are noncitizens working for low wages.
Is it impossible for these employers to provide
appropriate wages, and hire American citizens?
Anita learntoreadnow
--- Andrea Wilder <andreawilder at comcast.net> wrote:
> Merle--
>
> One of the beauties of the list is the space it
> opens up between even
> angry people in a discussion. This gives time to
> think. Nothing is
> thrown, there is no stomping out. it is possible to
> create a persona
> and develop an idea about who you are, the words
> don't go away,
> vanish.
>
> i am saying this in the context of an unfortunate
> trip to a local
> hardware store--the owner wouldn't take something
> back when it was his
> fault that the order slip had been written up
> incorrectly. Justice
> was not served, as so often it isn't.
>
> The immigrant situation is baffling to me, and I
> have yet to read
> someone's opinion that strikes me as wholly
> acceptable.
>
> Andrea
>
>
> On May 22, 2007, at 1:39 PM, Merle Ayres wrote:
>
> >
> > Andrea: My thinking has changed by some on the
> list that think very
> > narrow. Illegal aliens for sure. I don't know
> where the term came
> > from. It is political by nature and its hard to
> take politics out of
> > the immigration issue. It does give some
> ammunition to buy into this
> > thinking.
> > I would rather call these people from Canada or
> Mexico emerging
> > citizens. If we treat these people like crimminals
> they will act like
> > them. I was treated in London a few weeks ago like
> anyone else. All
> > races be it Musllim, Spanish, Croats, Blacks,
> French didnt seem to
> > have any hangups where I came from. I think our
> problem is engrained
> > in us Americans that we rise above the rest in the
> world. That gets us
> > into trouble.
> > Our political system where we take 2 years to
> select a President also
> > gets people more polarized. I witnessed the same
> thing in Georgia when
> > Martin Luther King made history. I dont want that
> to happen again but
> > it sure seems we are headed that direction. Im not
> all down on most
> > rational people on the list but this lately
> strikes of the same road
> > our country went down in the 60s. Hope I don't
> offend most people.
> >
> > Merle Ayres
> > 412 8th st. North
> > Humboldt,Iowa 50548
> > Tel.1-515-332-4630
> > Fax 515-332-1738
> >
> >
> > Andrea
> >
> >
> >> From: Andrea Wilder <andreawilder at comcast.net>
> >> Reply-To: National Literacy Advocacy List
> sponsored by
> >> AAACE<aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> >> To: National Literacy Advocacy List sponsored by
>
> >> AAACE<aaace-nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> >> Subject: Re: [AAACE-NLA] Immigration and adult ed
> >> Date: Tue, 22 May 2007 09:59:31 -0400
> >>
> >> Heide--
> >>
> >> This is SO FULL...the translation of immigration
> issues to classroom
> >> learning.
> >>
> >> Merle--What changed your thinking? Anything on
> this list?
> >>
> >> Thanks.
> >>
> >> Andrea
> >>
> >>
> >> On May 22, 2007, at 8:18 AM, Andrea Wilder wrote:
> >>
> >> > All--"
> >> > In the heated discussions on this list, I can
> usually spot just
> >> from
> >> > the text who is saying what--kind of like a
> script. I know some
> >> > 'voices" very well, I am familiar with them,
> can predict what tone
> >> the
> >> > posts will have. It is kind of like an
> orchestra. So I wondered if
> >> > any of the scripts had changed, and if the
> discussion had altered
> >> > people's thinking, or reinforced people's
> thinking.
> >> >
> >> > How does this work in the classroom? What
> makes a difference there?
> >> >
> >> > Andrea
> >> >
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > AAACE-NLA mailing list:
> AAACE-NLA at lists.literacytent.org
> >> >
>
http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/aaace-nla
> >> > LiteracyTent: web hosting, news, community and
> goodies for literacy
> >> > http://literacytent.org
> >> >
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> AAACE-NLA at lists.literacytent.org
> >>
>
http://lists.literacytent.org/mailman/listinfo/aaace-nla
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> >> http://literacytent.org
> >
> >
>
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