Posts Tagged ‘workers’ rights’

Immigrant Workers Need Our Love

1 Comment | Share On Facebook| Immigrant Workers Need Our Love Share/Save/Bookmark May 14, 2013

The Senate Judiciary Committee will be considering amendments again today to the bipartisan immigration reform bill. They began the amendment process last week, and will continue through the week of May 20. The amendment process is vitally important to comprehensive immigration reform. While some of these amendments provide important anti-discrimination and labor protections for immigration workers, others would effectively eliminate the ability of any guest workers to immigrate legally to the United States.

We must raise our voices and tell the members of the Judiciary Committee that our country needs compassionate immigration reform. Senators in the Judiciary Committee need to hear from people of faith across the country about the impact these amendments will have on our communities.

Please call 1-866-940-2439 to speak with the office of a Judiciary Committee member this morning and say:

“As a person of faith, I urge the Senator to SUPPORT all immigration amendments being offered by Senator Blumenthal, and Schumer #5, which would protect immigrant workers.

I also urge you to OPPOSE amendments that would hurt immigrant workers, specifically Sessions #3, Lee #19, Hatch #19 and #20, and Grassley #73 and #74.”

If you get an answering machine, please leave a message. Staff will be reporting all day on the number of calls for and against each amendment to the Senators. Find more information on the specific amendments below.

We believe that love has no borders, love keeps families together, and love respects the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Together, we can ensure that this immigration reform bill reflects our values.

Please call 1-866-940-2439 today!

In faith,

Jennifer Toth
Campaign Manager
Standing on the Side of Love

SUPPORT

Senator Blumenthal’s Amendments #7, #13, #17, and #18
These amendments would ban hiring discrimination based on national origin or citizenship status, provide whistleblower protections for temporary workers, ensure workers have the right to a pay stub so that they can prove employment status for the pathway to citizenship, and codify current ICE policy restricting immigration enforcement actions where labor violations have been cited, so a threat of raids won’t keep workers from reporting abuse.

Senator Schumer’s Amendment #5
This amendment would help workers change employers without the risk of losing their visa, and would provide an electronic monitoring system for the program.

OPPOSE

Senator Sessions’ Amendment #3
This amendment would prevent any guest workers from entering the U.S. if the unemployment rate is 5 percent or more. This is such a low threshold that it could effectively keep all guest workers from immigrating to the U.S.

Senator Lee’s Amendment #19 and Senator Hatch’s Amendments #19 and #20
These amendments would exempt employers of temporary workers from complying with labor and employment laws, thus allowing them to violate the rights of temporary workers; and would limit the ability of individuals and groups from submitting a complaint about worker’s mistreatment on behalf of a mistreated temporary worker.

Senator Grassley’s Amendments #73 & #74
These amendments would restrict temporary workers (new “W” visa recipients) from renewing their visas, and would require all temporary workers to provide proof that they can and are paying for their own health insurance, which could effectively prevent almost all temporary workers from entering the U.S.

*Please note that you likely will not be connected with your own Senator’s office through this number, unless they are a specific Judiciary Committee member. This is the best way to raise our voices at this moment. Judiciary members know they are responsible to ALL of us as they consider amendments. Feel free to call 1-866-940-2439 multiple times to connect with all priority Judiciary members. The Judiciary Committee list can be found here, if you want to call directly.

The message above went out on Tuesday, May 14, 2013 to Standing on the Side of Love supporters. You can sign-up for these emails here.

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The Acuña 8: Arrested in Mexico

5 Comments | Share On Facebook| The Acuña 8: Arrested in Mexico Share/Save/Bookmark May 03, 2013
Rev. Kate Rohde

This post was written by Rev. Kate Rohde, interim minister at the Wildflower Church in Austin, Texas.

When I encouraged members of Wildflower Church to cross the border for their annual church service education trip, I never dreamed that we would end up detained, deported, and banned from Mexico. I am the interim minister at Wildflower Church in Austin, Texas. I have always found these person-to-person delegations energizing for justice work and profoundly moving spiritually.

It was supposed to be an easy trip, just across the border to Piedras Negras and Acuña, to talk with workers, mostly the women workers, about their experiences in the factories (the maquiladoras) that are run by multi-national corporations on the Mexican border. We felt it would inform our immigration work at home.

We first heard from the women. There is an assumption that maquiladoras women are docile, but these women had proved them wrong. Conditions such as working more than a decade for fifty cents an hour, ten hours a day in a facility with no windows and undependable sanitation organized them to change. After a ten hour day, you earned only enough for a gallon of milk.

I was particularly moved by fifty-year-old, Juan, who told us how he had grown up working on the family farm in the outdoors he loved, only to have to emigrate to the maquiladoras from Southern Mexico when farm prices were driven down after NAFTA. Now he worked just as hard, for less, without the healthy air and open skies he had loved as a young man. This he will do for the rest of his days, far from home. The aspect of NAFTA requiring fair labor practices is not only being ignored, but conditions for unions are getting worse.

Members of the Austin delegation meet with the maquiladora workers

Members of the American delegation meet with the maquiladora workers.

After several morning visits, we went to the small meeting room of The Border Committee of Workers (CFO) to have a lunch prepared for us by our hosts. Shortly after we arrived, the building was surrounded by police with large automatic weapons and four immigration officers entered the building saying they had an “anonymous tip” about a large gathering which included foreigners. Eight of the eleven of us (the other three were Latino) were asked for our papers and told we didn’t have the correct papers and we would have to be taken down to the office to remedy the situation. Our Salvadoran-American companion told us later that this was the first time brown skin had ever been an advantage for him with police! We spent eight hours in custody during which we were asked to sign documents we couldn’t read. At first we were denied access to the consulate and later to a lawyer. At one point we were threatened with a two week stay in detention in Saltillo. We finally agreed to sign a short document saying we didn’t have a tourist card (not normally required near the border), we got finger printed, and we were deposited in El Rio, Texas with nothing but the purses we had with us. We were never given a credible reason for our deportation but headlines in the Mexican papers suggested we were political organizers. Through all our detention and the night that followed, the Mexican workers including some of their friends from the miners’ union, stood outside the building in which we were being held and then made sure we were safely across the border. Three of the eight detained were UUs from Austin.

Hand at detention center fence.

The view from detention.

It was clear that it was not us, but our hosts, who were the true target of this action. Multi-national corporations are crushing independent unions in Northern Mexico and this was another attempt to cut them off from friends and to intimidate both workers and allies. Most of us left Mexico truly inspired by the courage and friendship of these Mexican workers and I hope to return if and when the ban on my return is lifted. From Julia, Angelica, Javier, and many others I learned the meaning of the word corazón which means both heart and courage in Spanish. They taught us that to truly Stand on the Side of Love you need corazón and you need it for a long time. We had come to stand with them. Instead they stood with us.

If you would like to show solidarity with the workers, sign the petition online for the reinstatement of people we met who were fired for organizing.

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When It Happens in Your Own Neighborhood

No Comments | Share On Facebook| When It Happens in Your Own Neighborhood Share/Save/Bookmark Feb 21, 2013

Hector’s daughter

When it happens in your own neighborhood, you cannot ignore it; you cannot turn your back.

When I learned of a local undocumented day laborer named Hector who had been arrested after being falsely accused of assault by the man that hired him, I knew we had to act. Hector and his wife and three-year old daughter are residents of Canoga Park, the tiny community which is also home to my congregation, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church.

We called NDLON and asked how we could help. In addition to the petition demanding that Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) drop its immigration hold on Hector and donating to his legal fund, we helped mobilize UUs to participate in a press conference which was held on Valentine’s Day. What a perfect way to celebrate the holiday: standing on the side of love with immigrant families.

We also reached out to the UU Legislative Ministry of California. As part of their Immigrant Justice Team, we are helping to link congregations with local immigrant justice allies and coordinating actions to advance compassionate immigration reform.

I proudly represented our UU contingent at the Valentine’s Day press conference as one of the speakers, here is what I said:

“We Unitarian Universalists are here today to stand on the side of love with Hector and his family, with day laborers across the country and with the more than 11 million immigrants in our country to say, ‘Not one more.’

Not one more unnecessary, indefinite detention, not one more deportation that rips families apart, no more injustice for our immigrant communities.

UUs at the Valentine’s Day press conference.

UU’s have had a long history of commitment to immigration justice since 1963 and Emerson UU church right here in the valley has also long supported immigrants’ rights since housing a family in the first sanctuary movement, supporting farm workers’ rights and the grape boycott in the 70′s, and supporting an immigrant family throughout the second sanctuary movement.

And our commitment continues today with the fight for immigration reform that is not merely comprehensive, but also compassionate. Immigration reform, which keeps families together, restores human values to immigration law, and supports an affordable, confidential and generous path to citizenship.

It starts with Hector. Hector’s story is part of a pattern of abuse of day laborers. Workers who stand up for their rights should be protected, not punished. ICE needs to take action to prevent employers from retaliating against workers based on immigration status. This can start by lifting Hector’s ICE hold

Our Unitarian Universalist faith promotes the inherent worth and dignity of every person and justice equity and compassion. As people of faith, we believe immigration is a moral issue and we must come together as a nation to take care of ALL of our people.

At Emerson church, we begin our service by reciting our covenant which declares, ‘Love is the spirit of this church’ — ‘La doctrina de este Iglesia es amor.’ Let us turn that love into to action. We are all part of this community and we work together for this country. Todos somos parte de esta communidad y trabajamos juntos para este pais.”

You can help Hector by signing the petition to drop the ICE hold. Click here to take action.

This post was written by Sara LaWall, Ministerial Intern at Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church in Canoga Park, California.

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Day 26: Love the Hands that Feed You

No Comments | Share On Facebook| Day 26: Love the Hands that Feed You Share/Save/Bookmark Feb 13, 2013

Today is Day 26 of the Thirty Days of Love. Today is 2/13 and our action is to to raise awareness about the federal tipped minimum wage of $2.13. If you plan on eating out this week, speak with the restaurant manager about why this economic justice issue matters to you. Click here for resources, family actions, and more! Click here to sign up for the daily Thirty Days of Love emails.

Ethical eating is an issue close to my heart. The food that we eat connects us to our planet and to other people. Restaurant and other food workers play key roles in America’s modern food chain. But they are often overlooked and their rights trampled.

“It really opened my eyes. It was Latinos cooking, white women working graveyard shifts, men working during the day. I saw the racism, sexism, and low wages in the industry,” says Claudia Muñoz, a Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC) United leader. Claudia used to earn $2.13 an hour—the federal minimum wage for tipped workers for the last 20 years. Although the law requires employers to make up the difference between that and the regular minimum wage if tips fail to cover the gap, the reality is that employers often don’t.

Claudia made only about $160-$250 per week in tips and often worked over 40 hours a week. Her tips rarely made up the difference between the tipped minimum wage and the full minimum wage for non-tipped workers. But Claudia was often told to report more tips than she actually earned, so that the restaurant wouldn’t have to pay the difference.

Claudia’s story is not an anomaly. The restaurant industry has more than 10 million workers and ROC-United has documented extensive poverty, discrimination, and health and safety hazards in the industry.

The good news is that there is something that we can do about it! We ask you to mark today, 2/13, with an action to support workers who are paid as little as $2.13 an hour by their employers.

This is a big week for the restaurant industry, with many people celebrating Valentine’s Day, so let’s show that we care how restaurants treat their workers. If you are going to be dining out this week, ask to speak to the manager.

Tell the manager, “Thank you, the food was delicious and the service was great. I also wanted to let you know that I have recently learned that the federal tipped minimum wage for workers is $2.13 an hour. As a customer, I believe that those who prepare and serve my food should be making a living wage.”

If you’re interested in learning more about Claudia’s story and restaurant workers’ rights, one resource is the new book, Behind the Kitchen Door: What Every Diner Should Know About the People Who Feed Us, by Saru Jayaraman. The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee is working with ROC-United to promote Behind the Kitchen Door, and more than 500 UUSC supporters have committed to helping. If you are reading this book or planning to, email mobilization@uusc.org to get connected!

We can change the national conversation about what a truly sustainable food system is—a system where workers are paid a living wage and treated with dignity and respect.

Sincerely,

Rev. John Gibb Millspaugh

Rev. John Gibb Millspaugh is co-minister of the Winchester (Massachusetts) Unitarian Society, and the UUA Clara Barton and Massachusetts Bay Districts’ Acting Director of Congregational Development. He is also the editor of the forthcoming anthology from Skinner House Books, The Joy of Just Eating: Food for Personal, Public, and Planetary Well Being (working title).

P.S. Buy Behind the Kitchen Door: What Every Diner Should Know About the People Who Feed Us between now and February 23. Purchases made now through Powell’s Books and Amazon count towards the bestseller list. Please consider buying from one of these retailers between now and February 23 to help put Behind the Kitchen Door on the bestseller list.

If you are making a purchase after February 23, please buy through the UUA Bookstore. And if at any time you are planning to make a bulk order of 10 or more copies, you can do that through the UUA Bookstore at 20% off! All proceeds from the book, wherever it is sold, go to support the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United, a restaurant workers’ rights organization.

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Taking Our Voice to the White House for Immigration Reform

No Comments | Share On Facebook| Taking Our Voice to the White House for Immigration Reform Share/Save/Bookmark Dec 19, 2012

Members of the IIC coalition including Rev. Roshaven (center) with Ms. Rodriguez.

Yesterday, I went with fellow members of the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) Steering Committee to meet with Julie Chavez Rodriguez, Associate Director of Latino Affairs and Immigration in the White House Office of Public Engagement, and present our list of key principles for compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform to the Obama Administration. I felt honored to represent the Unitarian Universalist community and proud of the good work that so many of our congregational and community leaders have done for migrant justice and the Beloved Community.

For us, any immigration reform that does not include a pathway to citizenship and prioritize keeping families together is unacceptable. As people of faith, we are calling for compassionate immigration reform legislation that:

• Addresses the root causes of migration,
• Creates a process for undocumented immigrants to earn citizenship,
• Keeps families together,
• Enacts the DREAM Act,
• Protects workers’ rights including agricultural workers,
• Places humanitarian values at the center of enforcement policies, and
• Protects refugees and migrant survivors of violence.

What can you do to help support our work for compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform? Local congregations and individual faith leaders can sign on to our letter to Congress listing key principles of immigration reform. Click here to learn more.

Additionally, your congregation or community group can participate in the upcoming Breaking Bread and Building Bridges campaign—a program to create and strengthen relationships between people of faith, impacted communities, and immigrants’ rights groups, and increase local capacity to effectively advocate for just immigration policies.

Keep your eye out in the coming weeks—we are also organizing a national immigration reform call-in on the day after Inauguration (January 22). Join folks from across the country in asking President Obama and Congress to enact compassionate, comprehensive immigration reform that includes a pathway to citizenship and keeps families together. The IIC Steering Committee will be visiting key members of congress on that same day. Add your voice to ours and help ensure that the faith community is heard!

Rev. Craig C. Roshaven

This post was written by Rev. Craig Roshaven, Unitarian Universalist Association Witness Ministries Director and a leader in the Interfaith Immigration Coalition (IIC) Steering Committee.

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