Statement by AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Chavez- on False OSHA Meeting Used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in North Carolina Raid

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http://www.aflcio.org/mediacenter/prsptm/pr07142005.cfm

Statement

by AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Chavez- on False OSHA

Meeting

Used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in North Carolina Raid

July 14, 2005

At a time when injury and

fatality

rates among undocumented workers are soaring, it’s unconscionable that

the

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency would lure immigrant

workers

in North Carolina into arrest by using a phony Occupational Safety and

Health

Administration (OSHA) meeting. ICE put out a flyer to all workers at

the

construction site, in English and Spanish, telling workers to attend a

mandatory health and safety meeting and promising coffee and doughnuts.

Workers

need to be able to rely on OSHA for their safety on the job - - and

often their

lives - - without fear of repercussion. For immigration officials to

undermine

that trust in the name of an “undercover” raid is fundamentally wrong.

Latino and immigrant

workers are

among those facing the greatest risks of injury and death on the job.

According

to the latest US government data, on average, 15 workers were fatally

injured

and more than 12,000 workers were injured or made ill each day on their

jobs in

2003. Of the 5,559 workers killed by job injuries in 2003, nearly 900

were

immigrant workers.

Not only do such tactics

scare

workers away, making it less likely that workplace dangers will be

exposed, but

these tactics don’t comply with the government’s own policies. It is

OSHA’s

policy to keep the identity of those who file complaints confidential

and not

to collect data concerning citizenship status. The reason for these

policies is

simple: if workers believe that they or their families are at risk of

being

deported, they will not speak out about dangerous or unhealthful

conditions.

ICE’s actions not only undermine OSHA’s mission, but they also

seriously erode

the trust between agencies charged with protecting workers and the

immigrant

community.

Instead of scaring

workers into

silence by these types of immigration enforcement actions, the Bush

Administration should be focusing on crafting real solutions to our

broken

immigration system. We have long advocated for a solution that includes

a path

to citizenship for undocumented workers who have been working hard,

paying

their taxes and contributing to their communities, and guarantees that

all

workers—whether US or foreign born—have enforceable rights and decent

work.

Contact Esmeralda Aguilar

202-637-5018