Immigration Rallies: Look for the Union Label

By Byron York
The Hill | May 10, 2006

Did you notice the blue signs that said “We Are America” at the pro-illegal-immigration rallies in Washington and elsewhere?

They might just as easily have said, “We are organized labor.”

If you look at the small print on those signs, you’ll see a reference to an organization called the New American Opportunity Campaign. Find the group’s website and click on the line to send a donation and you’ll be told, “Make checks payable to: Coalition for Comprehensive Immigration Reform, 1775 K Street NW, Suite 620, Washington DC 20006.”

Look up that address and you’ll find it is the Washington headquarters for UNITE HERE, the union formed by the merger of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees and the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union.

It turns out UNITE HERE is a major player in the battle over illegal immigration. So is the Service Employees International Union, or SEIU.

Both organizations — UNITE HERE represents a little fewer than half a million workers, while SEIU represents 1.8 million — are the new face of labor. And no issue illustrates that more clearly than immigration.

The percentage of American workers represented by unions has been falling for decades. In many industries, that won’t change anytime soon; do you expect we’ll be seeing lots of new autoworkers and miners?

With decreasing membership has come decreasing clout.