Labor, Business Groups Struggle Over Guest Worker Issue

The Capitol Hill newspaper Politico reports the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the AFL-CIO are finding it difficult to reach agreement on guest worker provisions for the so-called comprehensive immigration reform bill. A stalemate over the guest worker issue led to the demise of the 2007 amnesty bill.Two months ago, the Senate’s Gang of Eight tasked the Chamber and AFL-CIO with reaching a deal on visas for new, temporary low- and high-skilled workers. They were given a Feb. 15 deadline for delivering a compromise. Yesterday, Politico reported that talks have stalled with the groups far apart on the issue. The groups issued a terse statement today, seemingly in response to Politico’s report. The Chamber’s Randy Johnson and the AFL-CIO’s Ana Avendano in a joint statement said, “We are continuing to talk and remain committed to comprehensive immigration reform.”  Avendano told reporters she is “still hopeful of reaching a good result,” but another source connected to the unions said the discussions are more likely to fail than not. A chamber spokesperson said the groups are nowhere near a final deal. One business source involved in the discussions said, “It’s like we’re speaking different languages…We’re very far apart. It’s hard to see us coming to any sort of agreement.” The groups are hoping to create an “unemployment trigger” that would signal when additional foreign workers can be brought in. However, business is insisting on a market-based approach to worker importation while unions want a commission to determine the number and timing of needed workers.Business and labor have long been at odds over devising a system for allowing in temporary foreign workers. Business groups claim more foreign workers are needed to relieve “shortages” in certain industries but labor has historically said that importing such workers displaces Americans. Not surprisingly, President Obama’s guidelines for “immigration reform” did not include guest worker provisions.Read the Politico article here.