Labor Day

2 SEPT 2013 (original Patch post date)

With origins in the union movement, Labor Day traditionally acknowledged the contributions of American workers. But now the federal holiday seemingly is more about barbecues and enjoying the last of outdoor summer activities.

Or, maybe we see it as a day to “enjoy the fruits of our labors.” Either way, it should give us pause to think about American workers, particularly those who aren’t currently enjoying any fruit from their labor, because they’re not working.

Per Gallup unemployment nationwide is at 8.9 percent, and underemployment is at 17.9 percent. Among the unemployed are at least 3 million people who have been unemployed for more than 52 weeks, and who may not find work as they’re stigmatized for being unemployed.

Maybe that doesn’t sound that bad, particularly if you’re not among the out of work, but then you look at a stat that there are 90 million people in the country not in the workforce, and you think, what????

What’s the quick picture of U.S. labor in recent decades? After a huge portion of U.S. manufacturing was dismantled, as the jobs were sent to the cheapest labor markets around the world, American businesses then proceeded to offshore and outsource whatever other jobs they could where any labor costs could be squeezed out. Former CEO of HP, Carly Fiorina, famously proclaimed, “There is no job that is America’s God-given right anymore” – and along with other business leaders like her, that’s become the reality.

Adding insult to injury, while American jobs were being outsourced for years, millions of foreign workers – both authorized workers and illegal aliens – came to the country, and continue to come to the country, undercutting labor here.

According to a Pulse Opinion Research poll conducted last month for NumbersUSA, an organization which advocates for lower immigration numbers, a majority of voters are concerned about the impact on American workers of what’s being called immigration reform.

Passed in the Senate, the immigration bill will be taken up by the House and, if passed, has the potential to legalize millions of illegal aliens and open the door to an even higher number of legal immigrants than the country already welcomes. On average for the last 25 years, the U.S. has admitted about 1 million immigrants legally each year.

In the poll, 75 percent of those surveyed said there are ample unemployed Americans with lower education levels to fill jobs that would go to millions of new immigrants under the Senate bill. Additionally, 71 percent of respondents said pay levels needed to rise to attract more candidates if employers were having difficulty finding U.S. citizens to fill jobs, while only 10 percent said employers should bring in immigrant workers to keep costs down.

American workers need jobs. A policy to import large numbers of workers in a period of high unemployment is insane. Continuing to import workers puts American workers on a path of long-term unemployment and/or potential disability and indigence – funded by the few remaining workers.

The path ahead for many Americans is not easy. One thing we can do to open the path for American workers is to kill an immigration bill that’s bad for the country and its citizens. Tell the House to reject the Senate amnesty bill.