The immigration bill currently before Congress is heralded as a "grand compromise." Its a grand compromise, all right. Its a grand compromise between two wings of the Republican Party: the nativists and the business community. The business community wants cheap labor. That nativists want ..., well, you know what they want.
To his credit, Senator Kennedy tried to advocate for the human rights of migrant workers in a deal with the business community. However the nativists have turned this into a debate between protecting the integrity of all things American and a business community that just wants cheap labor.
Humanitarian concerns for migrant workers have retreated to the background.
Completely missing from this picture is the interests of American labor. American workers are usually left out of the immigration discussion because it is generally accepeted that migrants are taking jobs that Americans don't want.
However, I no longer believe that this is true. American workers decline jobs in slaughterhouses, not because there is anything enherently dishonorable about being a butcher, but rather because conditions of work in American slaugherhouses are unspeakably disgusting. Conditions in American slaughterhouses are a choice. A choice we can make because of an abundance of desperate migrant workers.
This point was driven home to me recently when we had a rather nasty raid on an apparel factory in the Boston area last month. A rukus was raised by the Democrats concerning the welfare of children separated from their incarcerated mothers.
Yet, following these raids, there has been a change in the employment practices of a number of firms in the Boston area. This is most noticable in grocery stores. Hispanic cashiers and Indian baggers have been replaced by very white-looking unfamiliar faces.
Some stores, of course, are still trying to hold down costs by cheating the law. In one particular case, I noticed a 10th grade student scheduled to work past 9:00 p.m. on a school night. This is a clear violation of Massachusetts child labor law.
Erosion of labor protections in the United States didn't begin with this last round of INS raids. Undocumented workers are extremely vulnerable to violations around excess overtime and health and safety.
Which really brings me to my central point. Discussion of the grand bargain harkens back to a political deal that was struck during the first globalization century (which ended with the beginning of WWI). The deal during the first globalization century was: workers would go along with free trade and labor migration if workers were given a basic social safety net.
The interests of labor in such a grand bargain are really no different today than they were 100 years ago. If we are going to have labor migration and trade that suit the interest of business then American workers should insist on guaranteed health care, social security and enforcement of existing labor law.
As far as I can tell, no one is out there advocating for the interests of American workers. This is a battle within the Republican Party. Why the Democrats are facilitating conflict resolution within the Republican Party I really don't understand. Why Democrats are surrendering to the nativist wing of the Republican Party I really don't understand. Where are the Democrats insisting on the rights to free association, collective bargaining and a safe work environment? Where are the government agents making sure that teenagers are studying intead of working? Where are the Democrats insisting on access to health care for all and a survivable retirement in exchange for international mobility of goods and workers?