Enrolling immigrants, legal or not, on the rise but rankles some - Unions

“In a small office tucked inside a Sacramento, Calif., warehouse, a journeyman with Roofers Union Local 81 told apprentices — in English and Spanish — to listen up.

Teaching a bilingual seminar for union members puts Victor Garrido on the front lines of his AFL-CIO-based union’s push to recruit immigrants, including the undocumented, with guarantees of better pay, career development, pensions and health insurance.

It’s a survival tactic for unions, whose leaders see their foreign-born membership increasing and argue that inclusiveness protects all workers. But it’s one that can confound not just outsiders but some union rank and file, who fear the presence of illegal immigrants in general erodes working conditions.”

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