IMMIGRATION BILL ALERT

Senate revives bad legislation. Act now to protect your wages!

ALL BOILERMAKER MEMBERS are urged to take immediate action to help defeat the comprehensive immigration reform bill which is expected to come back to the floor of the U.S. Senate around June 20.

The Boilermakers and other unions of the Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), AFL-CIO, helped defeat this bill June 7 when it first came to the Senate floor for a test vote on cloture (cloture ends debate and moves the bill to a final vote). Now Senate leaders of both parties have made a few changes to the bill to appease its opponents — and President Bush is rallying his business allies to help push it through.

These changes do not remove the bill’s basic flaws. Construction trade unionists were not included during the bill’s creation, which was done behind closed doors. Yet estimates are that construction work is the third largest employment sector for illegal workers, with roughly 14 percent of all construction workers in the United States being undocumented.

The bill’s large guest worker program, which does not include proper protections for American workers, could drive down wages and benefits in the construction industry ― and in fact throughout our economy. Act now! The next floor vote to end debate and move the bill to a final vote is expected in a matter of days. Here’s what you can do:

1. EMAIL A LETTER TO YOUR SENATOR. Go to the LEAP section of the website for a full legislative alert and a sample letter you can email to your senator. The LEAP section includes a feature that will guide you to the senator’s contact information.

2. EMAIL A LETTER TO THE EDITOR. Email a letter to the editor of your local newspaper stating why you oppose the bill. The LEAP section provides talking points and background information. To find contact information for news media in your area, click the Media Guide tab and enter your zip code. Select a newspaper and contact information for the opinion/editorial (op/ed) section. Use E-mail only; do not send a letter by regular mail.

3. CALL YOUR SENATOR directly to voice your opposition.

We helped defeat this bill once because of a tremendous grassroots effort by the entire BCTD. Let’s make sure this bill stays dead. Please take action now to prevent a bad bill from becoming law.