Undocumented workers are culled in audit (Twin Cities Pioneer Press)

Undocumented workers are culled in audit
Union for nearly 50 at tanning plant protesting the action
By Julie Forster
Updated: 12/01/2010 09:49:38 PM CST

Nearly 50 workers in South St. Paul lost their jobs Wednesday as a result of stepped-up workplace audits by the federal government trying to ferret out undocumented workers.

The union that represents the workers, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1189, is protesting the Department of Homeland Security's enforcement strategy, saying the federal government is going after well-paid, taxpaying meatpackers, janitors and factory workers instead of targeting criminals and "bad actor" employers. Wednesday was the last day of work for those who process hides for Twin City Hide who could not provide documentation of their legal status to work.

Another union, Service Employees International Unions Local 26, which represented 1,200 janitorial workers in the Twin Cities who lost their jobs about a year ago as a result of audits carried out by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, also spoke out against the audits.

According to the SEIU, more than 50 workers, or 40 percent of the work force at Twin City Tanning, next to Twin City Hide, lost their jobs at the end of October following the same type of audit. Those workers belonged to Workers United, a union affiliated with SEIU.

The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency declined to comment on the audits of South St. Paul businesses, saying in a statement that, "Inspections are one of the most powerful tools the federal government has to ensure that businesses are complying with U.S. employment laws."

Twin City Hide declined to answer questions but issued a statement saying the company strives to comply with federal law and that it sympathizes with the workers who have lost their jobs.

"Many of these workers were long-time loyal employees of our company who worked hard for their families. We are saddened that they are now in this position. We'd like nothing more than for Congress to reform our country's immigration laws so that this kind of thing doesn't continue to happen," the company said.

Most of the workers who lost their jobs are Mexican nationals who at one time had work visas that have since expired. The workers had jobs that paid $12 to $14 per hour, health insurance and a 401(k) plan.

Don Seaquist, president of UFCW Local 1189, said enforcement without immigration reform pushes undocumented workers deeper into the shadows, benefiting unscrupulous off-the-books employers. The government is targeting the wrong people, Seaquist contends: "The wrong employers and the wrong employees."

Union officials also contend the dismissed workers were performing jobs that no other workers want. As a result, they said, the company is struggling to resume production with temporary workers. The union says it represented 65 production workers at Twin City Hide before the dismissals. In some cases, the workers have been there as long as 10 years.

In the past three months, the Department of Homeland Security has audited three companies with unionized workers, the unions say. Each of the employers, according to the unions, pays more than the nonunion market average-wage and has very few, if any, labor or tax violations.

Workplace audits in the past couple of years have represented a shift from the Bush administration, which targeted workers in large-scale raids, said Laura Danielson, head of the immigration practice at the law firm Fredrikson & Byron.

The consequences might end up being similar in that the worker either is going to lose a job and be arrested or take off before being arrested. "In many ways it has the same result, yet the focus is on employer compliance instead of the focus on undocumented workers."

In her opinion, enforcement doesn't fix the main problem. "The problem is that there aren't enough visas available that will help fill the gap for those employers," that need essential workers for certain jobs that many Americans will not take. "There are many industries like that around Minnesota."

In fiscal year 2010, the immigration agency conducted more than 2,200 audits nationally, up from 1,400 in the previous fiscal year. It issued 240 fines totaling $6.9 million in the 2010 period, up from 52 fines totaling about $1 million in 2009, according to the agency.

In the case of Twin City Hide, the employer received notice of the audit several months ago. The union got a 30-day extension for workers to get their documents in order. If they didn't have sufficient documentation showing legal status to work in the U.S., they were terminated.

"There's a perception that employers that employ undocumented workers are taking advantage of them," Danielson said. "I would say there probably are some employers taking advantage of workers who are vulnerable. But the employers I see are trying to do it right and they are just trying to fill jobs."