Hispanics use boycotts, marches to protest immigration proposals - Strikes

[Miss Chybil]

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0510az-boycott10-ON.html

Associated Press
May. 10, 2005 06:30 PM

More than 500 people gathered at the Arizona Capitol while others boycotted work Tuesday to protest state laws and proposals that they say make life difficult for illegal immigrants.

The work boycott affected some businesses in the Phoenix area, including restaurants that either shut down or offered limited fare because of staff shortages. It wasn't clear how many business were involved, though the effects appeared limited.

"We don't want to break anybody's back," said boycott organizer Elias Bermudez. "We want to make sure that if the sales went down 10 percent or 15 percent, that means that there can be consequences if we continue to have, unfortunately, these type of laws against us and against the poor people." advertisement

Bermudez said Americans have essentially invited immigrants into the country by offering them construction, agricultural and service industry jobs in the state.

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http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0510az-boycott10-ON.html

My brother is a superintendent for a large construction firm that builds luxury apartments. He said no crews showed up for work today.

I'm so torn on the illegal immigration thing. There is a housing shortage here in Phoenix due in part to a labor shortage. We have a labor shortage and still there are a lot of illegals doing the work that is getting done. This proves they are not taking ALL the jobs. On the other hand, the fact they are illegal forces them to work for less, which in turn drives down wages for everyone. My brother says he can't get Americans to do the work these guys do. Something really needs to be done.

When I was in Germany, I was told if a foreigner wanted a job in Germany, he, or she, had to stand in line behind a German. That's the way it should be here, I think. Work permits to foreigners, with preference given to natives. Everybody paid equally, so no-one hires a foreign worker just because they're cheaper. And, everybody pays income taxes. I just don't know how else this problem can be fixed.

[applegrove]

1. Man - I'd be furious. Those horrid terrorists. And their supporters.

Saudis, big Oil and right winger/neocon policy of the last 30 years.

What a horrid thing to happen to people.

But you cannot build a new 'watch list' computer system and not have real IDs. The watch lists either work or they do not.

Very, very sad.

[Virginian]

2. Our subdivision was built by illegals and nothing is level.

We bought new construction. Our builder made out like a bandit. WE got what HE paid for.
We have sliding doors that won't open because the frame is too tight, we have gaps you can see through on another. The tile in the shower had spackling instead of grout around the bottom. It got soggy and started dripping after just a few uses. There are lots of other construction problems too.
Some of the other houses have siding that keeps falling off. One neighbor said he had a flue for his gas dryer that wasn't vented properly and was causing carbon monoxide buildup in his home. Many other neighbors have complained of windows that leak when it rains.
We should have hired an inspector to detect these things before we bought, but we were new to the area and thought since the county inspected it we didn't need to. All of us who bought in this community paid too much to get such shoddy work.

There is no apprentice program, there is no pride in job skills. They take anyone to do the labor. There is no regulation or oversight you have no idea what skill level you are getting. There is no union. I am sure a lot of the displaced professionals in this area would take a construction job, but there doesn't seem to be regular hiring. Someone just drives by the day worker corner and picks up a bunch of men. At the end of the day, they are paid in cash, Some have not been paid at all, and that kind of abuse is another problem. Obviously, none of them, not even the legal immigrants and citizens, are contributing to the Social Security fund "that is going to go broke in 2042."

Why do we have immigration laws if they aren't enforced? The employers need to be penalized for profiting by their illegal hiring practices. Where is the IRS?

Where was INS when that protest was going on?

I can get behind a "Guest Worker" program that puts Americans to work first and makes sure that foreign labor is paid a fair wage. I thought that was what H-1b was supposed to do, but that just displaces Americans in favor of cheaper foreign labor. Would a guest worker program be any better?

Sorry about your brother's labor problems, Miss C, we all know he is breaking the law to stay competitive. But these days, it seems like it is just a "little white law" (like a little white lie?). The trouble is that breaking the little white law is causing big problems all around, with crime, with taxes, with unemployment...

IMHO the answer is in enacting reasonable laws and enforcing them, starting with the employers who profit from illegal hiring practices. Give the employers laws they can live with and make sure they obey those laws or face stiff fines. Maybe they MUST hire one American for every 5 guest workers and the guest workers MUST be here on guest worker visas. Something to make sure they look for American employees before resorting to non-Americans. The numbers could be based on local or regional unemployment rates. If the unemployed have run out of benefits and are no longer counted, they can put their names back into the system to be counted -- and hired.

BushCo would never go for this, it would show the real number of unemployed on his watch. Many of his "new jobs" in the high tech sector have gone to H-1b workers. H-1b Visa quotas need to be tied to unemployment rates.