Pablo Alvarado
AFL-CIO Constitutional Convention Remarks
Monday, September 14, 2009
Thank you Mr. Trumka, and thank you for your leadership on behalf of working people.
Buenas tardes hermanos y hermanas, good afternoon brothers and sisters,
I am honored and humbled to be here today to address this body of men and women of the labor movement who have worked very hard to make our country great.
I come here on behalf of the 41 worker centers that make up the National Day Laborer Organizing Network. Every day, over 120,000 men and women work as day laborers. And this is just in one day. The number of day laborers over the course of the year is far higher, as people move back and forth, in and out of the informal economy and in and out of permanent jobs.
In an effort to feed our loved-ones, day laborers face many indignities:
Wage theft
Injuries at the workplace
Physical violence
Retaliation when they speak up
And the every day denial of worker rights and civil liberties
In addition, day laborers find ourselves in newspaper headlines as symbols of an increasingly angry and divisive debate. We are considered symbols of the broken immigration system. And though no day laborer I know likes to be considered a symbol of anything, the day labor economy itself is indeed a symbol for a drastically changing labor market.
We, the day laborers, work in a changing economy that depends on our services but in a country that is not yet ready to grant us our rights. An economy that accepts the fruits of our labor but does not accept our humanity.
In this environment of uncertainty, day laborers in our network are organizing. We are organizing to defend our rights – to receive a fair day’s pay and to enjoy bedrock civil rights protections. Every day, day laborer organizers like me are helping workers claim unpaid wages. Every time they do it, they are protecting all of us in this room. And most of all, they are protecting the American Dream.
But we are not fighting alone. We are especially grateful for the support we have received from President Sweeney and his visionary leadership, from Jon Hiatt and Ana Avendaño, and from Mr. Trumka and all of you – the mighty AFL-CIO.
We are proud of our partnership with the AFL-CIO. This is our time to come together, to organize, to restore workers’ rights, and to ensure that our country lives up to its promises.
Together we will change an unfair labor market that benefits greedy corporations and predatory employers.
Brothers and sisters, I want to be absolutely clear: My organization makes the following pledges to you:
First: No day laborer that belongs to our network will cross any picket line. They never have and they never will. Instead we will join the picket line to fight together. Shoulder to shoulder.
Second: My organization will use every available resource to ensure the passage of the Employee Free Choice Act. We must restore the right to organize in America.
And Third: We will take the fight for worker rights directly to communities. Because building healthy communities requires strong unions, strong worker centers, and a strong labor movement.
Like all of you, I watched President Obama’s speech the other night. And I must tell you that his closing remarks moved me.
President Obama spoke to a core value that we all share, a value that is fundamental to our character. A value that is fundamental to the labor movement.
And that is: to fight exploitation wherever it happens. We as a labor movement must support the struggles of all workers, whomever they are, wherever they come from, whatever language they speak, and wherever they live.
As President Sweeney has said so powerfully, workers’ rights do not end at the US-Mexico border.
Workers in this country and around the world face multiple dimensions of uncertainty. And it is quite difficult to say what the future will bring.
But there is something we must be certain about: workers have never been given anything for free. Workers have always had to fight. Workers have allies that may come and go, but workers must be certain that they have each other.
And in these difficult times, the most vulnerable workers need this labor movement.
That is why we as a labor movement must work for immigration reform with a path to citizenship. No guest worker program that leads to indentured servitude.
No more second class workers. Our country is better than that.
As I said before, migrant workers have endured tremendous hardship in a system that tolerates, welcomes, and enjoys the fruits of our labor, but does not accept our humanity. The very people being called “illegal” – who I prefer to call Americans In Waiting – they, like me, will one day be citizens of this country.
These men and women are not just Americans in waiting. They are union brothers and sisters in waiting as well. And in partnership with the AFL-CIO, we will achieve a just immigration reform that protects the rights of all workers. Brothers and sisters, I hope you all join us in this necessary struggle.
