From the Tribune:
‘We’re just asking for you to support us’
Under Trump, workers’ rights advocates say they are now spending less time fighting against workplace violations for undocumented workers and more time securing the basic right to work as an immigrant in the U.S. Some companies have proved unwilling to agree to immigration protections for their staff.
Just off a quiet residential street in Little Village, more than 100 Teamsters are on strike. Nearly seven weeks ago, they walked off their manufacturing jobs at Mauser Packaging Solutions, where they work reconditioning steel containers used to transport chemicals.
The workers are seeking higher wages and improvements to their working conditions, but their union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 705, also wants Oak Brook-based Mauser to agree not to allow ICE officials onto workplace property unless they have a signed judicial warrant. So far, the company has refused to do so, said Nico Coronado, the union’s chief negotiator.
“They say that they don’t want to break the law,” said Arturo Landa, a shop steward at Mauser who has participated in the protracted contract negotiations. “We say, we don’t want you to break the law. We’re just asking for you to support us because we are your workers.”
Landa is from the state of Veracruz, Mexico, but has lived in Little Village for the last 18 years. Like many of the workers at Mauser, he is his family’s breadwinner: He is married with three adult children who live with him, he said. Landa has permission to work legally in the U.S., but still doesn’t feel safe.
“We’re scared, really, because of the color of our skin,” he said.
Mauser did not respond to requests for comment. Though the company has not agreed to the union’s demand surrounding ICE’s access to workplace property, it has, Coronado said, agreed to contract language that would give workers more time to address any inconsistencies in their I-9 documents and their Social Security numbers.