One reason we should do everything in our power to curb and cut back the invasion of illegal immigrants is the simple fact that American businesses and private employers exploit these people.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - She says she crossed the border from Mexico and found work as a live-in housekeeper for a family that never let her out of their sight.
At first, her employers paid her $200 a month for cooking, cleaning and care-taking from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. Then they stopped paying the woman, who did not want her name used because she is in the country illegally.
Still, she stayed. She had nowhere else to go. She said her bosses told her that if she left, she could be arrested and thrown back to Mexico, where her family had no means of support.
I can dare say that the employers in this situation were…LIBERALS. And I do question the honesty of ANY illegal who is bringing forth complaints: They have every reason to lie and no incentive to be honest.
Nonetheless, this is the kind of conditions illegals will face when working under-the-table, in the US. In fact, any person who is hired privately by non-corporate businesses have few rights.
Domestic workers have no right to overtime, sick time, vacation, health care and workers’ compensation in most states, and the immigrants among them often have it even worse.
Remember though: ALL these people MAKE the choice in their employment. No one forces a one of them to do this for a living. I have no sympathy nor do I shed a tear.
But the weak kneed, limp dicked and soft bodied liberals (who I firmly believe are the exploiters) have some sympathy:
But many domestic workers are finding their voices. They are suing employers who abuse them, organizing cooperatives to demand fair wages and lobbying politicians to change laws that exclude household workers from labor protections most employees take for granted.
Last June, immigrant household workers at the United States Social Forum in Atlanta - a gathering of social activists - formed the National Domestic Worker Alliance to campaign for state and federal laws guaranteeing basic labor rights.
The alliance, made up of 20 organizations from across the country, is holding the first ever national convention for domestic workers from Thursday through Sunday in New York City, where the host organization, Domestic Workers United, is pushing state lawmakers to sign a Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights.
That legislation, which would be the first of its kind in the country, would require that domestic workers receive such rights as one day of rest per week and advance notice of termination - standard practice for most other workers.
“The law has always treated this sector differently and less than equal to others,” said Ai-Jen Poo, an organizer for Domestic Workers United, which describes itself as an organization of Caribbean, Latin American and African workers.
“What this bill of rights does is put into place a few basic things,” Poo added. “The way we talk about it, this is really about respect.”
This article skirts around with it’s words. These workers are illegal immigrants- most of them- and can we forget that they have NO rights especially equal to American workers (who are being displaced by the illegals?)
The Census Bureau estimates that there are 1.5 million domestic workers across the country. A definitive count is nearly impossible since many of the workers are in the country illegally, and many collect income that goes unreported on taxes.
By far, the most exploited are the most hidden: the live-in housekeeper/nannies who may be new to this country, probably alone and thus most easily abused, said Pierrette Hondagneu-Sotelo, a sociologist at the University of Southern California who has written a book about domestic workers.
“The employers may take away her passport,” Hondagneu-Sotelo said. “And she may not know anyone else in this country. She is not familiar with labor laws here, and even her employer may not be familiar with them. So it creates a very ripe situation for abuse.”
Unreported income costs US all. And these abuses are not true abuse. No one is being taunted and harmed and hurt; they are working. They made a choice. It is wrong for their employers to NOT pay them- this is exploitation. There’s a big difference between the two.
The group operates a labor center where employers can call when they need help. The workers are assured hourly wages of at least $11 to $17 an hour, with a 3-hour, $42 minimum. They also get the legal support from the women’s collective should the employer fail to treat them fairly.
I’m sorry. NO ONE IS GOING to pay anyone $17.00 an hour to clean houses or cook for families! That’s absurd to even ask for, never mind demand. At those rates, Americans would love to be hired into these jobs. Fair treatment is subjective…unions and the like expect hours of breaks and days of time off; ridiculous wages and expensive benefit packages. We need look no further to the auto industry to see the massive plant closings related to the high costs of maintaining employment for the UAW and other unions. Most people are content with being paid for what they’re skills are worth; cleaning is not a high skill. Fercryingoutloud.
Any American citizen who chooses these terms for their employment gets no sympathy from me. Illegals who do this DO have some of my soft hearted empathy- BUT- it only goes so far. They also made the choice to illegally enter the US, to accept illegal employment offers and as far as I am concerned, they have no right to DEMAND anything. Their employers however, should be punished to the full extent of the law (which is not much right now sadly.)
We need to stop this bulloney. Close the damn borders; kick out every illegal we find and punish their employers with prison time and huge fines and rendering them forever unable to start a business again. Once this all happens, I believe we won’t read stories like this.