Immigration advocates were dealt a major blow March 27. The basic human rights allotted to all workers in the United States were stripped away from undocumented immigrants. The U.S. Supreme Court decided that undocumented workers do not have the right to free association in unions or protection against employers that violate labor laws. In a 5-4 decision, the court set the precedent that if a business fires a worker for union activities, or anything else for that matter, an undocumented worker is not entitled to equal protection under the law.
Jose Castro and three co-workers filed a complaint against Hoffman Plastic Compound in Paramount, California, charging Hoffman Plastic with labor rights violations. In 1989, Castro and three other co-workers were fired after they had participated in a union organizing campaign in the factory. The National Labor Relations Board, the federal agency in charge of resolving labor violations, found that Castro and the three co-workers were illegally fired as industry reprisals for union activity. The NLRB ordered Hoffman Plastic to pay restitution for lost salary and reinstate the workers. Lower federal courts agreed with the NLRB, but Hoffman Plastic will now be free to continue their illegal union busting according to the Supreme Court.
Labor unions and immigrant rights advocates fear that the decision will serve as an incentive for industry to exploit immigrants. Arturo Rodriguez, president of the United Farm Workers, expressed concern for undocumented workers because they are left \totally without rights, without legal protection and without equal treatment under the law."" In a telephone interview with the Mexican newspaper, La Jornada, Rodriguez commented that employers may now actively seek to hire more undocumented workers knowing they don't have legal protections or labor rights: ""This eliminates for workers the right to stand up to their bosses. ... It puts them in slavery conditions since they don't have recourse to defend themselves.""
The AFL-CIO was angered by the recent decision. AFL-CIO president John Sweeney stated, ""Employers are permitted to illegally victimize undocumented workers without economic consequences for their actions, the Supreme Court decision affects all ways of life and working conditions for all Americans, citizens and noncitizens. The decision is devastating.""
In the past, the Supreme Court maintained that undocumented workers do have federal legal protections. However, their most recent decision retires these protections. While this decision is a devastating blow to civil rights, communities must still stand up to racism and discrimination.
Just last year, UW-Madison came under fire for illegally racially profiling immigrant custodians. The university fired over 20 Latino custodians who were targeted for their Latino sounding surnames in a social security investigation. Union Local 171 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees joined with the Interfaith Coalition for Worker Justice to challenge the university. The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission ruled UW-Madison officials racially discriminated against the custodians and that civil rights protections apply to immigrant workers. The case was bad public relations for the university and compensation was paid to the workers who were illegally racially profiled.
The Supreme Court has demonstrated again that they are hardly a beacon of fair and impartial justice. The Bush/Gore election fallout dampened many people's vision of Supreme Court impartiality. The court has again demonstrated that they are a tool of the powerful instead of a beacon of justice. Maybe we should change the poem on the Mother of Exiles from, ""Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,"" to something like, ""check your rights at the door.""
