A Progressive Voice on Full Employment Policy

Excellent article by Thom Hartman, whom I normally do not agree with, but he got this one right. He does make one glaring mistake. He blames only the Republicans and seems to assume that the Democrats will do something about the problem. Of course, this was written in 2006 so he can be forgiven his lack of prescience. But now, after almost a year and a half, with a veto proof majority and a President, the Democrats have done nothing to end outsourcing, offshoring or illegal immigration. Seems like both parties work for the same financial interests and no one works for the American people. Still, very well written and very worth reading. rng Published on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 by CommonDreams.org Today's Immigration Battle Corporatists vs. Racists (and Labor is Left Behind) by Thom Hartmann The corporatist Republicans ("amnesty!") are fighting with the racist Republicans ("fence!"), and it provides an opportunity for progressives to step forward with a clear solution to the immigration problem facing America. Both the corporatists and the racists are fond of the mantra, "There are some jobs Americans won't do." It's a lie. Americans will do virtually any job if they're paid a decent wage. This isn't about immigration - it's about economics. Industry and agriculture won't collapse without illegal labor, but the middle class is being crushed by it. The reason why thirty years ago United Farm Workers' Union (UFW) founder C�sar Ch�vez fought against illegal immigration, and the UFW turned in illegals during his tenure as president, was because Ch�vez, like progressives since the 1870s, understood the simple reality that labor rises and falls in price as a function of availability. As Wikipedia notes: "In 1969, Ch�vez and members of the UFW marched through the Imperial and Coachella Valley to the border of Mexico to protest growers' use of illegal aliens as temporary replacement workers during a strike. Joining him on the march were both the Reverend Ralph Abernathy and U.S. Senator Walter Mondale. Ch�vez and the UFW would often report suspected illegal aliens who served as temporary replacement workers as well as who refused to unionize to the INS." Working Americans have always known this simple equation: More workers, lower wages. Fewer workers, higher wages. Working Americans have always known this simple equation: More workers, lower wages. Fewer workers, higher wages. Progressives fought - and many lost their lives in the battle - to limit the pool of "labor hours" available to the Robber Barons from the 1870s through the 1930s and thus created the modern middle class. They limited labor-hours by pushing for the 50-hour week and the 10-hour day (and then later the 40-hour week and the 8-hour day). They limited labor-hours by pushing for laws against child labor (which competed with adult labor). They limited labor-hours by working for passage of the 1935 Wagner Act that provided for union shops. And they limited labor-hours by supporting laws that would regulate immigration into the United States to a small enough flow that it wouldn't dilute the unionized labor pool. As Wikipedia notes: "The first laws creating a quota for immigrants were passed in the 1920s, in response to a sense that the country could no longer absorb large numbers of unskilled workers, despite pleas by big business that it wanted the new workers." Do a little math. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says there are 7.6 million unemployed Americans right now. Another 1.5 million Americans are no longer counted because they've become "long term" or "discouraged" unemployed workers. And although various groups have different ways of measuring it, most agree that at least another five to ten million Americans are either working part-time when they want to work full-time, or are "underemployed," doing jobs below their level of training, education, or experience. That's between eight and twenty million un- and under-employed Americans, many unable to find above-poverty-level work. At the same time, there are between seven and fifteen million working illegal immigrants diluting our labor pool. to continue reading