Organizing the "unorganizable": The unionization of undocumented workers in Los Angeles County.

Abstract

The labor movement in the United State is on the ropes, bruised and fighting back only sporadically and usually ineffectively. Among the reasons given for organized labor's diminished strength, especially in certain regions of the country, is the presence of undocumented workers. Undocumented workers from Mexico and Central America are said to be "unorganizable" because of their fear of apprehension and deportation by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). This is a "deviant case" study of a Los Angeles-based plant in which undocumented workers voted by a two-to-one margin for union representation and negotiated a contract, despite encountering strong employer opposition and their location in the traditionally non-union secondary labor market. Relying on snowball and quota sampling techniques, the principal sources of data are intensive interviews with 49 of the plant's workers, key management personnel, including the owner of the plant, 6 of the 8 organizers involved in the campaign, and workers, organizers, community activists, employment agency personnel, and members of management from other factories, unions, and organizations. Relevant primary and secondary written materials were reviewed, including the union's files on the campaign. This study challenges the conventional wisdom regarding the unorganizability of undocumented workers. Rather than seeing undocumented workers as beyond the pale of unionization, this study suggests that their organizability depends less on citizenship status--which is singled out in most accounts--and more on such factors as the length of residency in the United States; the depth and density of social networks; the commitment of unions and union organizers; the degree to which workers occupy a secure occupational niche in the economy; the extent of the protection afforded by labor laws; and the visibility of the INS in Los Angeles. In short, the factors that promote or retard unionization among the undocumented are not unlike those that determine the organizability of other workers.