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Immigrants are people too!
an article by Joe Yannielli
You know their faces. They clean the floors of your
building. They make your meals when you go out for a treat. They tuck
in your sheets when you stay at a fancy motel. You glance at them from
the corner of your eye, their rough skin emerges from the shadows, a
blank expression, their eyes sink downwards, surrounded by a halo of
dirt. You try not to watch as they move slowly, rhythmically,
performing their ritual task. It's hard, repetitive work and you know
it. It pains you to watch, so you don't. You hurry off to your
destination. You focus on your schedule for the day, the friends you'll
see, the work you have to do, where you want to eat your dinner. And
soon you forget. Until the next day, the awkward glance as you pass by.
And that face, that determined, beaten, painful face burns a hole in
your mind again. Is this a person? It's there every day, performing the
same bizarre ritual. And every day, you pass by without a word, nothing
but a brief glance soon forgotten.
There are millions of
immigrants living and working in America right now. They work the
hardest for the least. And yet they are forgotten. They do not have the
same civil rights. They are forced into accepting the most oppressive
work conditions with no hope of a union. They pay taxes and social
security, but receive none of the benefits. And, thanks to
unconstitutional laws pushed forward by the Bush administration, they
can be stripped of everything they have and deported without so much as
a trial or chance to speak with their families.
On October 4th,
many of these heroic individuals and their supporters will converge on
New York after two weeks of touring the country. Modeled on the Freedom
Rides of the 60s, which helped win equal rights for African Americans
in the segregated South, the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride will expose
the public to a harsh reality. Peace cannot flourish as long as others
remain oppressed.
To see when the Freedom Riders will pass through your area, or to help out, visit www.iwfr.org.
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DISCUSSION
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Should America really protect illegal immigrants
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OTHER THEMES
LATEST READER COMMENT:
The news report of a merger
between HERE, the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union and UNITE, the
clothing, textiles and laundry union, is important news for all workers
including illegal immigrants, because these unions are in the forefront
of organizing immigrant workers and assuring their rights.
By
bringing immigrant workers into the trade union movement, these unions
promote worker unity and deny unscrupulous employers the option of
pitting one group of workers against another.
This is a great
step forward for the American labor movement which did not support
union rights for illegal immigrants during the 19th and 20th Centuries.
And, of course, it is a great step forward for immigrant workers at the same time.
The
new union will represent 440,000 active members and more than 400,000
retirees throughout North America. The tentative agreement is
expected to be ratified with a vote by rank-and-file members at a
special joint convention in Chicago in July. . .
UNITE and HERE
have collaborated most recently in the Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride,
the successful struggle for a fair contract for Yale workers, and in
the current effort to unionize H&M retail and distribution workers.
. .
UNITE historically represents workers in the apparel and
textile industries, and more recently has organized industrial
laundries, distribution centers and workers in light manufacturing.. . ...more.
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