"For millions of hard-working, tax-paying immigrants and their families -- whose only crime is having crossed our border -- parts of this bill are a great step forward," said Terence M. O'Sullivan, General President of the Laborers' Union. "This bill would allow immigrant workers who do some of the hardest work in America to come out of the shadows of fear created by their lack of documents. While this bill won't resolve all the injustices and inequities immigrant workers face, we believe key provisions will strengthen working families across the continent."

The McCain-Kennedy bill would allow undocumented unskilled immigrant workers to apply for a new category of visas, called H5B. The visa does not chain immigrants to a particular employer and could lead to permanent status in the U.S. Legal status for these workers would be earned, require steady employment, payment of taxes and payment of application fees.

The bill would help immigrant workers who are already here come out of the shadows of American society by ending threats of deportation, which are often used by employers to prevent immigrant workers from joining together to improve their working conditions. Such immigrants could apply for permanent resident status after six years of employment in the U.S.

In addition, the bill would strengthen national security by requiring holders of the new visas to undergo criminal and security background checks.

And the bill would take steps toward remedying the tragedy of families divided by borders by increasing the number of immigrants allowed for the purpose of family reunification.

The Laborers' Union expressed concern about provisions of the bill which would in effect create a new guest worker program by the creation of H5A visas. The visas would be granted to future immigrants, but don't provide necessary safeguards to protect U.S. workers or future immigrant workers, the union believes.

And while workers with H5A visas would theoretically be protected against employers who violate wage or other workplace laws, they would have not standing to seek remedies in court.

"In light of abuses that have historically occurred with guest worker programs, we believe the provisions in this bill for H5A visas should be improved to ensure that workers have legal recourse against unscrupulous employers and so that U.S. workers are protected from employers whose sole purpose in hiring H5A visa holders is to undercut existing workplace standards," O'Sullivan said.

Overall, O'Sullivan said the McCain-Kennedy bill offers "our best hope for true and fair immigration reform."

The influx of millions of immigrant workers in the past several decades has reshaped the construction industry workforce. Many immigrant construction workers have faced serious safety, pay and benefit issues because their legal status has prohibited them from speaking out about concerns.

The Laborers' Union, founded in 1903 largely by immigrant workers, includes more than 800,000 members who work in construction and hazardous materials remediation, as well as in health care, the U.S. Postal Service and other public service sectors of the economy.

Source: Laborers' International Union

CONTACT: Richard Greer of the Laborers' International Union,
+1-202-942-2262 or +1-202-215-1562

Web site: http://www.liuna.org/