Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1998 13:48:29 -0700 (PDT) From: Hector Delgado Reply-To: Hector Delgado To: Labor Research and Action Project Subject: Re: Strawberry Debacle (1): The Significance of Citizenship Status In-Reply-To: <01bdbb21$dc0d0e80$0b00a8c0@wave102.cruzio.com> Dear Labor Rappers: At a recent conference in UCLA, Paul and I discussed this issue briefly. I'll admit to being one of those progressive academics who found little evidence in his research to support the assertion (conventional wisdom?) that undocumented status was a significant deterrent to unioninzation, at least in light manufacturing in L.A. I don't know of any academics who say it is irrelevant (in fact, very few factors are irrelevant -- some are simply more important than others). So I agree with Paul that it shouldn't be ignored. But, I'm more concerned about attaching too much significance to this factor than I am about attaching to little sigificance to it. The former had been the case and consequently unions didn't even try to organize undocumented immigrants (at times even caling the migra), but when they finally tried to, they were pleasantly surprised by how receptive these workers were to unionization. Paul says academics "neglect" the significance of citizenship status. He seems to suggest that disagreeing with him on the importance of citizenship status is tantamount to neglecting it. Speaking for myself, the impact of citizenship status on unionization was precisely what I set out to study and found, to my surprise I might add, that it was not a very sigificant factor in the plant I studied in depth and other plants I looked at more superficially. In addition to the 70 plus workers I interviewed, I interviewed over twenty organizers from several unions in Los Angeles, and almost without exception, they did not believe undocumented status was a deterrent to unionization. I have not studied agricultural workers and it may be that in the case of agricultural workers, and strawberry workers in particular, citizenship status is a much more important factor. If this is the case, I look forward to learning about the "unique challenges" they present to organizers, and i assume Paul's next message will elaborate on this. It's also possible that citizenship status is more relevant today than it was a decade ago. So I agree that the discussion is an important one and new research should be conducted on the importance of citizenship status in organizing, but I worry that some -- and Paul is definitely not in this group -- may use it as an excuse not to organize these workers and blame them for organized labor's troubles. That would be taking a step backward. Organized labor has little choice but to organize these workers and many organizers will tell you that they are among the most militant of workers. But, again, I applaud Paul for raising the issue and look forward to reading others' comments. Hector L. Delgado On Wed, 29 Jul 1998, Paul Johnston wrote: > The Strawberry Debacle (1) > by Paul Johnston > > The current spin on the strawberry debacle is understandable, perhaps > necessary, not only for the prestige of the labor movement but also for the > election appeal process, and I am not suggesting that it be challenged in a > public manner. But we won't learn from this episode unless we look beyond > the spin. > > There are important issues to be addressed— in this campaign as elsewhere— > regarding organizing methods. Despite the deployment of enormous resources, > despite all that can be said about employer opposition and intimidation by > anti-UFW workers, and despite (perhaps partly because of...) the purchase of > the main organizing target by a pro-union owner, it is evident that the > organizing methods employed failed to engage this workforce. But here I > want to say a few things about the significance of citizenship status. > > Overwhelmingly, the strawberry workforce is composed of undocumented Mexican > workers. This is one of the unspeakable truths beyond the boundaries of > discourse in the labor movement. > > There's a surprisingly strong consensus among progressive academics who > study and support immigrant work organizing that legal status is irrelevant > to union organizing efforts. Surprising because not only in the > strawberries but everywhere in the U.S.-- right around the corner from every > campus-- union organizers involved in the cutting-edge work of organizing > immigrant workers are confronting the unique challenges of organizing these > workers. > > The claim that citizenship status makes no difference for organizing appears > to some to be an affirmation of equality and a form of support for > organizing these folks: a classsic example of allowing our values to bias > our assessment of the facts. While good intentions seem to lie behind > academics' neglect of the significance of citizenship status, today's > AFL-CIO organizing technicians are a good deal more hard-nosed. I attribute > their neglect of the issues (and opportunities) here to unfamiliarity with > this particular workforce, to overconfidence (give me the troops and I can > make any workforce vote for the union!), and to a narrow-gage approach to > union organizing held by some that considers any strategy other than a > frontal campaign for recognition and any issue other than "Union Yes!" to be > a distraction and a waste of time and resources. > > What ever the reason for neglect of citizenship status, when we neglect such > significant factors reality is liable to teach us painful lesson. In the > strawberry campaign, lesson time has arrived. > > The significance of citizenship status for union organizing derives from far > more than the special vulnerability of the undocumented workforce. Because > citizenship status is so central to the life and fortunes of these workers, > an organizing effort which fails to speak to this issue is unlikely hope to > resonate within the workforce. Also, workforces with different citizenship > statuses present different kinds of organizing challenges and opportunities, > and different kinds of social movement potential. Different issues > resonate, different currents flow, different resources are needed, and > different factors affect timing and other strategic decisions. > > I believe that this particular target was chosen based on a strategic > analysis of the vulnerability of the industry, conducted by researchers far > removed from the realities of farm labor in California. This kind of > strategic analysis is a strong suit of the organizing technicians who have > gained prominence through SEIU's Justice for Janitors and similar campaigns. > But it is far from sufficient to assure that sound decisions or effective > leadership. > > I will later to the bearing of citizenship status on the choice of this > workforce as the key target for the UFW and the AFL-CIO leadership. Once we > decide to organize a predominately undocumented workforce, however, we must > have a positive message about the rights of undocumented workers. We cannot > evade the issue. So the next posting starts here. > > Paul Johnston > Citizenship Project > johnston@cruzio.com > >