AFL-CIO Files Complaint with United Nations ILO on Hoffman Plastics Supreme Court Decision Denying Immigrant Workers' Rights

Launching what could become one of the highest profile labor cases to come before an international body, the AFL-CIO has filed a complaint at the International Labor Organization (ILO) of the United Nations concerning the Supreme Court's decision in the case of Hoffman Plastics Compound v. NLRB. In the Hoffman case, decided in March 2002, the U.S. Supreme Court took the unprecedented step of denying an undocumented immigrant worker lost wages after he was illegally fired for exercising his rights under the National Labor Relations Act to form a union.

The complaint alleges that this decision is a violation of the ILO Conventions 87 and 98 and the ILO's 1998 Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work:

· Convention 87 protects the rights of workers "without distinction whatsoever" to establish and join organizations of their own choosing. Hoffman creates a distinction based on immigration status;
· Convention 98 which protects the right to collective bargaining requires "adequate protection against acts of anti-union discrimination" —a protection Hoffman nullifies based on immigration status;
· The Declaration of Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work declares that the freedom of association is one of four basic rights—a basic right that Hoffman denies to undocumented workers.

The complaint states, "Instead of realizing the principles of freedom of association, the Hoffman decision destroys the principles...the Supreme Court's decision penalizes workers who exercise fundamental rights. The decision rewards the violators and punishes the victims."

AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said of the Hoffman case in March that, "By allowing employers to unlawfully victimize undocumented workers without any economic consequence, the Court's decision undermines the living standards and working conditions of all Americans, citizens and noncitizens alike."

The complaint also points to a recent ILO decision on a similar law denying undocumented workers in Spain the freedom to form unions—in that case, the ILO committee found that Convention 87 covers all workers.

The CTM, an umbrella group of unions in Mexico, will also file a similar complaint. The complaint should be discussed at the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association and Governing Body, with a decision in 2003.

For Information: Lane Windham (202) 637-5018