Workplace Rights for Illegals? Be My Guest (worker)

Today, U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis signed “partnership” agreements with representatives from Latin American countries in order to “protect the labor rights” of workers, both legal and illegal.  Says Solis, “No matter how you got here or how long you plan to stay, you have certain rights. You have the right to be safe and in a healthy workplace and the right to a legal wage.”   No need to rub your eyes, you read that correctly.  Just in case you don’t believe it, look at what California Labor commissioner Julie Su said earlier – “Nationwide, Latino workers suffer more minimum wage and overtime violations than any other ethnic group. My job is to make sure that the labor laws of this state are enforced, the right to minimum wage, to overtime for all hours worked and the right to protection against retaliation when workers stand up for their rights.”

Americans who are already terribly dismayed by a 9% unemployment rate and escalating violence at the borders find statements like this very disturbing, and rightfully so.  It certainly is disheartening to be searching (legally) for a job and come across business after business that has filled most of their labor with illegal immigrants.  Su is quick to remind us that companies nationwide are violating the “rights” of ILLEGAL aliens, denying them minimum wage, overtime, and general workplace protections.  She seems unable or unwilling to acknowledge the violations on the part of the ILLEGAL alien, who by definition is a criminal on our shores simply by being here.  They are not protected by our laws, our constitution and are not welcome to participate in the benefits of being American (though we know many do anyway).  Those privileges are not for people who break the law, they are for people who love America enough to put in the effort to actually become American – legally.

But hearing all this makes me think: perhaps we should be advocating for minimum wage and equal workplace rights for illegals.  Maybe we should be the ones front and center, protesting beside these non-English speaking, non-tax paying, non voting, non-citizens.  We should be advocating that employers be required to pay every illegal alien at least a minimum wage, health benefits, and overtime.  Employers who knowingly hire illegals to fill their positions should be required to provide the same workplace conditions as they would for real Americans.  They should be required to meet every OSHA standard and should be subject to special investigation by OSHA if they don’t.  I say special because illegal aliens are a disadvantaged sub-group in America.  Many don’t speak English (probably because they aren’t American) and are fearful of the authorities (probably because they aren’t American).  They are reluctant to report workplace violations, so OSHA should provide frequent and regular monitoring of businesses that choose to hire illegal aliens.  Furthermore, if an illegal alien decides to strike for better workplace conditions, their jobs should be protected, just like real Americans.  They should also have the right to unionize without threat of retaliation, as Su described.

Why not give our illegal alien guests the same workplace rights as the average unionized, American worker? I say go for it.  The reason American businesses turn to illegal labor in the first place is because arbitrary minimum wage laws, OSHA regulations, and union labor strangleholds have astronomically driven up the price of labor.  Illegal aliens are illegal (gasp!), and so obviously not concerned with fulfilling the law in their work.  So let them have their “American” workplace rights.  Conservatives worry that this is “backdoor” amnesty…and maybe it is.  However, why not engage in a little “backdoor” protection of our borders and drive out illegal aliens by making them just as costly as the average American citizen?  If a business has to pay the same amount for an educated American citizen as it does for an illegal alien who doesn’t even speak English, who do you think they would rather hire?  Of course, we would prefer that they could simply hire the American citizen a low but fair wage, but decades of Democrat “compassion” have made that nearly impossible.  Maybe the best route to go is to make the hiring of illegals equally as costly.

The Obama Administration has made it more than clear that they have no intention of defending Americans and American businesses from the current, debilitating onslaught of illegal, uneducated labor.  They have all but surrendered certain patches of sovereign American soil in some places along the border and prosecuted Arizona for their audacity in taking the issue into their own hands.  If our own government won’t protect us, the citizens, but will  protect illegal aliens, perhaps its time for a new strategy.  Maybe we need to cure the problem using their own medicine – stifling regulations and crushing burdens of compliance and oversight.  Let the illegals “enjoy” the privilege of being a regular American employee in the work place today.  Not only may it drive employers back to good, old-fashioned American labor, the Tea Party may find some partners in these newly  outraged (non)Americans.

Hey, at this point, it doesn’t sound so crazy.

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9 Comments

  1. Does Solis know what our immigration laws say? Does she wonder at all that these very workers that she is supposed to be “protecting” are criminals to begin with? Does she know anything about the enforcement of our immigration laws FIRST, that way the only people she’ll be protecting the rights of are the rights of CITIZENS, NOT CRIMINALS!! What the hell is she talking about by doing something that is against the law to begin with. You can’t give rights to people by going around the Congress and our immigration laws just because you think some Mexican’s are being abused on the job. We’ve had decades of OSHA laws forcing our companies to make sure their workers are safe, and those laws have nothing to do with pay, but also for decades our companies have been forced to adhere to union pressure to pay people who weren’t worth the money they were being paid, or forced people who didn’t want to join a union to join it. The Labor Dept. is run by the unions when it comes to pay and pay abuse.

    I don’t call the pay Mexican’s are getting paid by companies in cash, so that those companies don’t have to pay the taxes, Social Security, Workman’s Comp., and insurance. Those companies that Solis is so-called protecting are hiring illegal Mexican aliens to. They are not hiring American citizens because they are to expensive to hire. Those companies are the ones who are fighting the “E-verify”, and are falsifing pay records to the Labor Dept.. This that Solis is doing IS in violation of the law. And just because she’s claiming that she is protecting the rights of workers doesn’t let her off the hook for violation of our immigration laws just like Napolitano, and Durbin are doing. It was Durbin and Napolitano who are putting Solis up to what she is doing. They are progressing the move to finalize the Dream Act back door style. They are in violation of our immagration laws and need to be prosecuted for it to!!

    1. But if those kids grow up and try to work without proper papers and certification, that does make them criminals. Sadly. As an immigrant who came here legally, and had to endure the paperwork and long waits to call myself a citizen, there is no justification in the world to me for anyone to jump the line. If you come here illegally and STAY here illegally, you take your chances with the justice system. But no worries, our government is doing what they can to make sure that the ‘illegal’ in ‘illegal alien’ doesn’t mean anything.

    1. brian, I am most likely wasting a precious minute of my time here, but here goes. Under what theory of law do you make such claim? Or is this some pansy-mansy pie-in-the-sky utopian idea that every person born on planet earth has the right to leech off of wealthy nations that strive to take care of their own people? Much like in the United States, founded on the basic principles that include capitalism as a means of increasing a persons wealth without government interference. That today, is under attack by an administration that believes much in the same way you do… that all people can enter this country and live on welfare, as great expense to those who work for a living.

      You, and people like you, are LEECHES my unwise friend. The sooner you figure that out, the better off you will be, assuming that your IQ is capable of carrying you forward.

    2. Brian is correct if we believe in God as everything belongs to God and in due time this will be seen. We come into this world with nothing and we will leave the same way. You are no better than anyone else. World laws dictate another doctrine entirely. This is why the new world order will be in force and then we will all find out what slavery is. Our rights are being compromised each time a new law is passed to make it harder for us to prove our birth right. This raises hatred toward others and that is the goal. United we stand. Divided we fall.

  2. In reality illegal aliens have no real rights in our American employment, or in America period!! This bull crap is the very reason American cannot get rid of illegal immigration, it is this sudden laws put in place that protect illegal aliens and all their wrongdoings,these laws that kisses their butts and forces Americans to kiss their butts and accept all of their wrong doings in America! Illegal aliens need to know that America do have illegal immigration laws, they all need to be force to strongly abide all of our American laws. Regardless of what many America stupid laws say, when they say that illegal aliens are not lawbreakers, well that is because they refuse to see that they really are lawbreakers, They much rather try and make illegal aliens look good in America, so that they could just sugarcoat every thing that they do! illegal aliens are hurting Americans with their massive invasion, They are sneakily trying to conquer America for them self, The way they are doing this they might as well have weapons,

    Just look at how they are being allow to use our birthright laws, since it is so open wide, it is being used for their own sneaky amnesty for their millions of children born here in America alone!! It is helping their population growth in America tremendously, at the same time Americans are being a big sell out by their own American lawmakers, illegal aliens own Mexico politicians send them over here to have babies to make instant American citizens out of them! send them here to work so that Mexico can profit off all the money they send home! illegal aliens are really out smarting our politicians! our politicians are stupid to see what they are really doing, at the same time they are not protecting America and it citizens, from illegal immigration and it’s corruption!

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