Vision
A new direction on civil rights requires linking immigrant
rights to a real
jobs program and full employment economy.
It demands affirmative action that can come to grips with
the
devastation in communities of color, especially African
American communities. Some unions,
particularly HERE, have
moved from rhetoric to actual contract proposals linking
immigrant rights
and jobs for underrepresented communities.
But this is just a step towards unity, and it is
already
endangered by proposals for new guest worker programs that
will pit immigrants against
the unemployed. As employer
lobbyists continually point out, jobs and immigration are
tied
together. Corporations will either pit people against
each other at the bottom of the workforce, or
labor will
unite them in a struggle for their mutual
interest.
