Repeal Employer Sanctions Now!
Testimony From The Frontlines
Employer Sanctions Is A Modern Day Slave Law:
In 1992, Mr. Lin came to the U.S. Because he did not have work documents, he
continued to work in a Chinese restaurant in New York City, delivering food by bicycle. Most
of the people he met doing delivery were single and undocumented immigrants. Employers
prefer that because they don’t have to pay tax and can exploit these workers even to the point of
injury without fear of repercussion.
As a delivery worker, Mr. Lin worked 10 to 11 hours a day, 6 days a week on average
with no overtime pay. He was making less than $2 an hour. On December 3, 2003, he was run
over by a car while making a delivery. After the accident, Mr. Lin was not able to work and it
was very hard to make a living. Since the injury, he receives $500 a month in compensation, but
the money isn’t enough. Two years later, he must rely on borrowing money to survive.
In June 2005, the lawyer handling Mr. Lin’s case told him the insurance company was
willing to settle for a little over $100,000. He advised Mr. Lin not to rely on court proceeding.
The lawyer said that in the court, the jury is white, black and Latino, as well as the judge. He
said, “They hate illegal aliens, and they will give you nothing. If you lose, you get nothing and
you’ve still got to pay us the lawyer fee.” He also showed Mr. Lin documents that mentioned the
1986 immigration law, IRCA. The lawyer told Mr. Lin the court ruled that undocumented
workers are not entitled to compensation for backwages. He said it is only because his firm is so
good that the insurance company is offering this amount at all.
Employers prefer to hire undocumented because they have no rights. Bicycle delivery is
a dangerous job in New York City, and if workers get hurt, both the insurance company and the
employer can get out of paying by saying they aren’t responsible for paying undocumented
workers who aren’t entitled to backpay. Now, recent court cases are threatening to deny
Workers Comp and other labor rights to undocumented workers, based on the premise that they
have no right to work in the U.S. in the first place. Even lawyers discourage their own clients
from seeking justice, because they think undocumented are not entitled to anything if they have
no right to work.
Employer Sanctions Lowers Conditions For All Workers:
Amy, a U.S. citizen, was working in a nail salon in uptown Manhattan for 18 years. She
emigrated from Korea to find a job and make a better life for herself. For years Amy worked
under a Korean boss lady’s supervision, putting in more and more hours, cleaning up the shop,
answering the phones and performing other tasks beyond what was required of her. But Amy
was only rewarded with less and less time for a break.
Gradually, many of the Korean and Chinese workers who were U.S. citizens had been at
the nail salon for a long time were fired without any reasons given. After these workers left, the
boss lady hired undocumented Fuzhounese, Chinese workers. Many of them hardly speak
English or Korean. They worked faster for less money and didn’t dare complain. Amy
continued to work longer hours with barely a few minutes to have a meal. The boss preferred the
newer workers who were too afraid to speak out against mistreatment, and would yell at Amy a
lot, even though she was working as usual. Over time, the mounting pressure and increased
tension between her and the newer co-workers became too much to handle. Amy mentioned to
her boss she needed breaks. The next day she was fired.
Employer Sanctions is a Tool for Employers to Divide Workers:
A large, upscale restaurant outside of New York City hired both documented and
undocumented workers as waitstaff and buspersons. Some of them had worked there for 5 years,
and others for a couple of months. Though they worked as tipped employees, management took
about 2/3 of their tips. And when customers walked out without paying the bill, management
took the servers’ money to pay for it.
The workers decided to fight back. Together they decided they would refuse to pay for
the missing checks. As soon as the employer heard this, she began asking each of the workers
for immigration papers. The workers filed a petition for election to unionize. The following
day, management called the workers representatives to a meeting. They threatened that they
would not allow workers to organize a union in their restaurant. Management also threatened
that if the workers joined the union, the restaurant would do everything by the books. They said
if the employees were undocumented, then there was nothing the employers could do to help
them. After the meeting, the employer repeatedly asked one of the union supporters for proof of
immigration status and a social security number. In her two years of working at the restaurant,
never before had she been asked for any proof of immigration status. It was only after she began
fighting for better working conditions that the employer began harassing her.
During the following days, the employer threatened the documented and undocumented
union supporters by saying that if they joined the union, the restaurant would close and after they
left working there, no one would hire them. She bribed many of the undocumented workers in
lower-wage positions that they could keep their jobs if they didn’t join the union. The employer
was able to use employer sanctions provisions to the antithesis of its purpose. The restaurant
tried to divide workers, fire all the documented workers, while scaring undocumented workers
from speaking out. However, despite the employer sanctions provisions, a group of documented
and undocumented workers decided to walk out on strike to demand fair labor practices. |
