AP: AFL-CIO Sues Over Government Crackdown on employers who hire illegal immigrants

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/08/29/ap4066700.html

LOS ANGELES -

The nation's largest federation of labor unions sued the U.S. government Wednesday over a plan to crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants, arguing increased scrutiny of Social Security numbers will result in errors and threaten the jobs of legal workers.

The new rules, set to take effect Sept. 14, will violate workers' rights and impose burdensome obligations on employers who receive "no-match" letters from the Social Security Administration, according to the AFL-CIO lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

"We've seen employers use these no-match letters as a union busting tool," said Ana Avendano, an AFL-CIO attorney and director of its immigrant worker program. "Employers will look at these letters, see all the new burdens, and just decide to fire people."

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the AFL-CIO by the American Civil Liberties Union, seeks to force the Bush administration to halt the plan.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said the lawsuit was "an obvious attempt to impede the department's ability to enforce our immigration laws. It is completely without merit and we intend to fight it vigorously."

The Social Security Administration sends "no match" letters to workers and their employers notifying them of information discrepancies, such as when their Social Security numbers do not match their names. The letters are not shared with other government agencies because of privacy laws.

FULL story at link

[sadiesworld]

1. WTF?

Unbelievable.

[sybylla]

2. My son just got one of those

There was a clerical error in entering his ss# at his place of employment. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Just fill in the correct number on the paperwork and send it back. Easy peasy. How an employer can use this against the union I fail to understand. Last I knew, union members couldn't be fired willy nilly.

Perhaps someone can explain it to this simple mind.