Today, for the first time in recent years, labor activists and immigrant rights groups from all across the nation have come together for a momentous gathering to talk about one common goal: strengthening federal labor protections for the most vulnerable workers in this country-immigrant workers. 

The AFL-CIO, the National Immigration Law Center, the National Council of La Raza and dozens of grass-roots immigrant advocacy groups have gathered here today to re-commit ourselves to the fight for strong labor protections that will put an end to the exploitation and abuse of immigrant workers in America's workplaces and provide equality of treatment for all workers.

Immigrants in this country are coming under attack... the wave of anti-immigrant sentiment has grown to tidal size and right now immigrant workers in this country need immediate and aggressive action by all of us in their defense.  We are working harder and closer than ever before to combat the rebirth of these ugly anti-immigrant forces.

We cannot shy away from the cruel fact that immigrants are systematically denied their most basic rights both as workers and as human beings.  Too often, employers don't pay them their wages,, retaliate against them for exercising their legal rights, discriminate against them because they're immigrants, and forcefully interfere when they try to improve their wages and working conditions through forming unions. 

Weak labor rights and worker protections for immigrants have resulted in a caste system that has allowed for rampant discrimination, abuse and exploitation of documented as well as undocumented workers by unscrupulous employers. 

Immigrant workers are disproportionately represented in dangerous industries such as construction, meat packing, manufacturing and agriculture. It is shameful that in 2002, foreign-born workers suffered 69 percent of the workplace fatalities in our country, even though they make up just 15 percent of our workforce. Mexican workers, for instance, are 80 percent more likely to die in a workplace accident than native-born workers, and, as a recent study shows, one Mexican worker dies on the job every day in our country.

Undocumented workers are the most vulnerable of all workers; they are concentrated in low-wage industries that are known for low wages, unsafe working conditions and their anti-union fervor, and their legal rights have essentially been stripped away by the Courts.

A U.S. Department of Labor survey found that 100 percent of all poultry processing plants in our country were non-compliant with federal wage and hour laws.  Another DOL survey found that in agriculture, compliance with workplace health and safety standards as well as wage and hour regulations is unacceptably low.

When immigrant workers try to join or form unions to correct these injustices, they are cruelly harassed, intimidated, discriminated against and terminated for their actions - and our courts have essentially left these workers with very little recourse, and no reinstatement available to them.  Calling on the immigration service to bust a union organizing drive has become the weapon of choice for many employers.

The fact that millions of immigrant workers in our economy are forced to accept low wages, no benefits and outrageous working conditions, is something that negatively affects us all.

For these reasons we must push for a strong blanket standard of treatment that will not make exceptions and that will benefit the middle-class as a whole. 

Unions, like the progressive pro-immigrant groups joining us here today, are deeply committed to ending the exploitation and abuse of immigrant workers in America's workplaces.  Chief among our values is the uniquely American concept that workers in this country, citizens and immigrants alike, should have their most basic rights respected, they should be free to speak their mind without recrimination or persecution, and should be free to improve their lives through unionization without interference from their employers.

As the only organizations in our country dedicated exclusively to standing up for working people and their families it is our job to ensure that the rights and freedoms of workers aren't reserved just for a few, but extended to the many- regardless of where they were born, the color of skin, gender or migratory status--those are our values. 

Contact: Sarah Massey (202) 637-5018