Maryland "Freak State" PING!
Posted on 01/07/2016 5:46:36 PM PST by Kaslin
Some of the largest and most influential trade unions in the country are calling out Democrats for boosting guest worker programs and open borders policies.
North America's Building Trades Unions--an umbrella organization representing three million workers and 15 major unions, including the Laborers and Teamsters--sent outgoing Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D., Md.) a letter Thursday accusing her of selling out workers by importing foreigners to work for "Close to Slavery" wages. Mikulski pushed for increasing the number of temporary H2B visas that allow companies to bring guest workers to the United States to fill seasonal jobs.
"We wanted to express to you our extreme disappointment over your efforts to leverage the power and trust that the people of Maryland have placed in you as their representative to doggedly pursue language in the recently passed omnibus bill that will result in diminished job opportunities for hard working Americans," the letter says. "Flooding a loose labor market such as the construction industry with additional low-skill labor hurts the wages and reduces the job prospects of both recent immigrants and native-born workers who are struggling the most. To be blunt, Senator, your actions will induce a race to the bottom on wages and benefits for U.S. workers."
Mikulski did not respond to Washington Free Beacon request for comment.
The labor group said that the omnibus bill's language would triple the number of visas issued and depress wages for blue-collar workers. It also accused Mikulski of attempting to "undermine" labor protections for American and foreign workers to benefit employers.
"To add insult to injury, you have also spearheaded efforts to undermine, and defund, even the most basic labor protections the Department of Labor and Homeland Security have at their disposal to ensure that no harm is caused to either the vulnerable foreign workers who are imported to do this often backbreaking work, or the hard working American workers who must now compete against a virtually powerless workforce to make a living," the letter says. "Your 'accomplishment' has undermined the fundamental principle, embedded in U.S. immigration law for more than one hundred years, that U.S. workers must be protected from unfair competition by foreign workers for both temporary and permanent jobs."
The group is going public with its campaign targeting Mikulski. It also plans to take a full-page advertisement out in the Baltimore Sun, the state's largest paper, announcing that Mikulski "delivered a stunning blow to workers in Maryland and across America." The ad, purchased by the Community Hub for Opportunities in Construction Employment, urges residents to flood her Senate office with calls.
She has enjoyed past support from some of the unions that signed the letter. The Sheet Metal Workers Union, for example, is one of her largest career donors, contributing nearly $50,000, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Industrial unions contributed more than $250,000 to her, while the construction industry pumped her campaign and PACs with more than $330,000 over her career.
The group said that her actions could lead the group to find someone who would better reflect their values in the Senate.
"We can assure you that Maryland's construction workers, both union and non-union, will welcome new leadership on their behalf in the U.S. Senate; leadership that we will expect to fight FOR good paying jobs in Maryland and across the nation, rather than sell out an entire career and legacy on behalf of a 'low road' status quo," the letter says.
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America for Americans! We’re full, no vacancy.
Exactly. This is just theater to appease the suckers paying union dues, while the union bosses continue to support the progressive agenda (which requires keeping workers poor and dependent) full-steam.
I also don't think we need to run rough shod over American workers to introduce millions of low paid indentured servants and slave labor in the form of both legal and illegal immigrant workers.
We have plenty of excess labor in this country now. We have plenty of illiterate out of work people who can shuck oysters or mow lawns. They may have to pay a coupe dollars an hour more, so be it. So some people may decide the new price is too high to pay and mow their own lawns.
I don't agree with the unions often, but on this point I agree fully with them. They are correct in their assessment that the wages and job prospects of legal immigrants and low skilled American citizens are hurt tremendously with the expansion this program.
The US has a birthrate of 12.49 per 1000(CIA Factbook) and an immigration rate of 3.86 per 1000.
Without immigration, the US would have a negative population growth rate. With our current immigration rate, our population growth rate is 0.79%.
BTW, where did you get your economics degree? VooDoo College?
Maryland "Freak State" PING!
Union bums supported the Mikulski dwarf for years. Too late to blame the old hag now for their stupidity.
Well Ben, they don’t call it the ugly science for nothing. Very few economists agree on much of anything.
Yes, we have a population growth rate that is below replacement. By all means let’s supplement it with low wage, low skilled, illiterate in their own language immigrants.
We don’t need anymore immigrants until we get those already here assimilated.
We also have tens of millions of low skilled workers not working.
We need a much smaller social safety net and fewer immigrants driving down the wages of lower skilled workers.
Right now we give people and incentive to not work while bringing in massive waves of both legal and illegal immigrants that drive down wages. The lower wages further incentivize native workers to not work. Why work when the economic benefit of working is minimal when compared to welfare benefits?
Stop regurgitating the nonsense talking points from the Club for Growth and the Chamber of Crony Capitalists and do a little critical thinking.
Where did you get your high school diploma, or is it a GED? God knows you lack the knowledge to have gone to business school
You are wrong because you subscribe to the "lump of labor fallacy" aka the "zero sum fallacy". You think that there is a finite number of jobs and each immigrant will take the job of a native born. The reality is that a new worker produces and consumes, which increases output and creates more jobs. This is why it is best to have a positive population growth rate.
Incidentally, another good way to grow the economy is to increase worker productivity, which usually requires capital investments, and is the basis of supply side economics.
You are also wrong historically. The US has a very long history importing her underclass. We have always imported poor people without skills and that has always worked out successfully.
It works well because these "poor immigrants" have a higher standard of living in the US than they did in their home country. And, thru time, the immigrants assimilate, become better educated and acquire skills, putting them on equal footing. The first generation immigrant is definitely at a disadvantage. The second generation immigrant's outlook is much better, and the third generation immigrant is on equal footing with native born.
Regardless of you better education, a claim that is specious at best, I can certainly see that an educated fool is still a fool.
We could afford to import poor unskilled workers when we had a massive labor economy that required nothing more than strong backs.
We are no longer that type of economy. We are a knowledge economy.
If your education, which you speak so glowing of, had continued past 1950 you would understand that.
If by the third generation they can be as unemployed and uneducated as our massive poverty community, I fail to see that as advantage to our economy.
70% of all immigrants are on at least one Federal entitlement. They are not self sufficient, much less an economic benefit.
Everything you are saying is wrong.
Historically, Congress revises the immigration laws about once per generation and are overdue at this time.
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