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Labor Unions, Catholic Church, American Employers Have Vested Interest In Giving Americans’ Jobs To Illegal Aliens: Lou Dobbs Interviews Marc Lauritsen of UFCW - RI10
Labor Unions, Catholic
Church, American
Employers Have Vested
Interest In Giving
Americans’ Jobs To Illegal
Aliens: Lou Dobbs
Interviews Marc Lauritsen
of UFCW - RI10
DOBBS: Well, as you should. And literally tens of millions of other Americans who would like to think that this government has the capacity and the leadership to secure our borders and our ports at a time now five years distance from September 11th in a still continuing war on terror. Striking. I'm delighted you thought of me, Jeanne, thank you very much. Jeanne Meserve from Washington.
New details tonight on the raids carried out Tuesday by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Mexican government officials say that nearly half of the more than 1,200 meat packing employees in six states detained in that raid are Mexican nationals.
Mexico is asking the United States government to release mothers who were arrested so they can care for their American-born children. And the United Food and Commercial Workers Union said the agents terrorized those workers in an outrageous display of force.
Marc Lauritsen is the union's international vice president. He joins us tonight. Marc, good to have you here.
MARC LAURITSEN, UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORKERS: Thanks for having me, Lou.
DOBBS: I'm sort of astonished to hear you say that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents terrorized workers. I mean, that's pretty strong language, particularly at a time when we're engaged in a war on terror?
LAURITSEN: Well Lou, let's take a look at what happened two days ago. 13,000 people, they went to work, they expected their lives to go on as normal. But what truly happened was when they got to work, these plants were surrounded, the gates were locked.
The agents swarmed in with military-type weapons and full riot gear. They stood up on tables and segregated people strictly by their skin color. They gave people that look like me, blonde hair and blue eyed, blue bands and said you are free to go.
DOBBS: So they're racist as well as terrorists, is that what you're saying?
LAURITSEN: What they did was -- with those military weapons. They detained thousands of people under military style tactics. What did ...
DOBBS: ... Military style tactics or law enforcement? Excuse me, Marc, let's be honest here. How would you distinguish these tactics from the tactics taken by law enforcement agencies in a number of circumstances?
LAURITSEN: But you bring a good point up. What was this about? According to the court records, this was about 170 people that ICE knew the name of those that were working in those facilities.
And instead of going in and strategically removing them, they stormed into the plants and they terrorized 13,000 people so they could extract 170. Let me put it this way, I applaud what ICE did in Louisville, Kentucky with the same employer.
Tabacco: And George W. Bush sent our military forces into Iraq after 1 man, Saddam Hussein, causing the deaths of 655,000 Iraqis or 150,000 (depending on your devotion to that genocidal murdering capitalist George W. Bush), plus almost 3,000 American servicemen and women. Why doesn’t Lauritsen complain about those numbers? Because Lauritsen is attempting to increase the falling numbers in his union’s membership, and he is not shy about including illegal aliens in the count.
Instead of fighting against Outsourcing and FTAs, which are the real cause of deteriorating union membership in the USA, Lauritsen & the UFCW and many other unions are taking the easy way in fighting for illegal aliens because the Bush administration won’t fight the unions on that issue. Strange bedfellows: Catholic Church, Big Biz & Labor Unions – all of whom have financial interests in illegal Mexicans working and living in the United States. As usual, it’s about the MONEY!
They went in very quietly and they extracted those allegedly were engaged in identity theft. They had the capability to do it. This was not about identity theft. This was about them making a splash. And what did they do in this splash? They turned communities upside down. They took breast-feeding babies away from their mothers and left students as young as six-years-old at schools with nothing -- no one to call home to. Nobody to take them home.
DOBBS: Let me ask you this, because I think a lot of people might be taken aback that the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is involved in this at all. What is your case -- what is your role in all of this?
LAURITSEN: These are working Americans. They're working men and women...
DOBBS: ... No, no, they're -- wait, whoa, whoa, partner, whoa, whoa. You said these are working Americans. We've got the Mexican government saying they're working Mexican nationals. Which are?
LAURITSEN: All right, well, I apologize. Let's say it this way. These are working men and women. Many of them who were here under legal status.
DOBBS: OK, they're men and women, we can buy that.
LAURITSEN: Let me tell you about Walter Malina (ph) from Grand Island, Nebraska, who is a perfectly -- he was...
DOBBS: ... We have some time constraints and I understand that you're trying to bring forth the story of the humanity -- the human issues here and we commiserate.
LAURITSEN: Or the lack of humanity.
DOBBS: But what I don't understand -- I'm sorry?
LAURITSEN: Or the lack of humanity that was used in this situation. That's what was needed, was a little humanity when they removed these people. And there are still people who...
DOBBS: ... my question is what is your union doing involved with employees who are illegal aliens, who have in 170 cases, been charged with stealing the identity of American citizens that work there and the workforce, 18 percent of which was illegal? What was your role in all of that?
LAURITSEN: Our role is to represent workers and to see that working people in this country get their shake.
DOBBS: Workers or legal workers?
LAURITSEN: They're people that are working in these facilities that need a fair shake.
DOBBS: No, they're people working, we understand. Did you check to see whether or not they're legal before you represent them?
LAURITSEN: Our job is to represent people that work in slaughterhouses. That's what we do.
DOBBS: So you don't have a responsibility as a union to obey American law?
LAURITSEN: We represent people that work in these facilities. We don't hire them. We represent them.
DOBBS: OK, let me ask you -- since you won't acknowledge a responsibility for that, will you acknowledge a responsibility for the wages they're paid? What of their wages -- how much have their wages risen over the last 20 years, Marc, in those meat packing plants?
LAURITSEN: Lou, you and I both know -- I know where you're going and you and I both know that workers don't depress wages. Corporations depress wages and they depress wages by using a broken immigration system.
DOBBS: No, partner. No, you and I both know -- Marc, you and I both know that corporations have to pay living wages if there isn't an influx of illegal labor or surplus labor. And the reason there's a surplus labor, the very people you're supposed to be representing, American workers have watched their wages drop from $19 to $9 an hour because you're willing to make no distinction between an illegal worker in this country and a lawful, legal American citizen. And that is your responsibility.
LAURITSEN: No, what's happened here is that corporations throughout this country have exploited a broken immigration system for their own advantage.
DOBBS: Oh, I couldn't agree with you more.
LAURITSEN: This government needs to get on the stick. The Republican Congress that was just voted out of office promised us ...
DOBBS: ... you and I agree Marc, this government is a joke. This government is dysfunctional; it's irresponsible to the point of criminal negligence. Do we agree?
Tabacco: Again Lauritsen refuses to acknowledge an obvious answer.
LAURITSEN: And what I will tell you Lou -- and what I will tell you is what you saw two days ago at these meat packing plants was this administration and this government's another bungling of a job that could have been done a lot better. This government bungled it and that's what they have done.
DOBBS: And Marc, how do you explain to your membership, American citizens paying your union dues that you're come complicit in driving their wages down by participating in the exploitation of these illegal workers?
LAURITSEN: Well, I disagree. We're the ones that are driving those wages up. We're pushing them up as best we can.
DOBBS: You're driving them up? You're kidding? Name another industry that's lost 50 percent of its wage power over the course of the last 20 years.
LAURITSEN: Well, that's not exactly the truth. The wages in this industry have actually ...
DOBBS: ... Well no, it's actually worse than that, from $19 to $9 an hour.
(CROSSTALK)
LAURITSEN: No, first of all the starting wage in those union meat packing plants is about $11 an hour and goes as high as $23 an hour, depending on your job.
DOBBS: Marc, we'll continue this conversation later. It's a very simple thing. You're either part of the problem or you're part of the solution. If you feel good about where you are, that's fine. It's America and we appreciate you being here.
LAURITSEN: I look forward to continuing the conversation.
DOBBS: Our pleasure, come back any time.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0612/14/ldt.01.html
Tabacco: I consider myself both a funnel and a filter. I funnel information, not readily available on the Mass Media, which is ignored and/or suppressed. I filter out the irrelevancies and trivialities to save both the time and effort of my Readers and bring consternation to the enemies of Truth & Fairness!
In 1981's 'Body Heat', Kathleen Turner said, "Knowledge is power".
T.A.B.A.C.C.O. (Truth About Business And Congressional Crimes Organization)