| Written by Maria Elena Salinas |
| Monday, November 24 2003 |
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| Are you unemployed? How would you like a job with the largest corporation in the world? It turns out it has at least 250 job openings. The pay is low, but the hours are flexible. You might have to work the graveyard shift seven days a week, clean toilets, scrub floors, wipe windows, throw out trash and even pick up dead cockroaches -- but hey, it's steady work. Oh, there's one more thing: There might not be insurance benefits, workers' comp or even overtime pay.
What's the problem? The job doesn't sound so great? Well, there are thousands of immigrants from Latin America and Eastern Europe across the country who are doing it, except for 250 of them who were arrested on Oct. 23. That's when federal immigration agents stormed into 60 Wal-Mart stores in 21 states. The janitors were not given the chance to finish cleaning the toilets, scrubbing the floors, wiping the windows or picking up the dead cockroaches. Instead, they were herded into federal paddywagons for a ride to jail.
Now, nine of those undocumented workers are fighting back. They've filed a class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart on behalf of thousands of workers, both legal and illegal. The lawsuit claims the company systematically deprived the employees of labor-law protections. My question is: Weren't the federal authorities the ones who were supposed to be going after Wal-Mart?
The arrest of the janitors came after a five-year investigation that began with complaints by Eastern European workers of exploitation by Wal-Mart. But instead of penalizing the management that was allegedly exploiting and abusing the employees, federal authorities arrested the alleged victims. Instead of going after the operators of the maintenance companies or the ultra-rich Walton family (which owns Wal-Mart and includes five of the richest people on Earth), the feds went after the lowly maintenance workers.
While the investigation goes on and the workers face deportation, I wonder why Wal-Mart was targeted. There are thousands of big corporations, office buildings, banks, hospitals, restaurants, department stores, maybe even federal buildings that are cleaned every night. Who is checking the immigration documents of the thousands of other cleaning people in America? The answer is simple: no one. It would be impossible to do and a colossal waste of time.
Cleaning toilets and floors, mowing lawns, washing dishes and picking lettuce in the fields are not coveted jobs. Most Americans do not want those jobs and would not be willing to work long hours with no overtime pay or benefits. That is why immigrants -- many of them undocumented -- come to this country to do them. There are entire industries in the United States that probably would not function if it were not for those who will do anything -- no matter how demeaning and degrading, no matter how hard or dangerous -- to make a few dollars.
American companies are saving millions of dollars by hiring these low-skilled maintenance workers without having the responsibility of paying their taxes, Social Security, insurance and other basic benefits, many of which are required by law. They take advantage of the fact that because some are in the country without the proper immigration papers, they won't complain.
Many of those arrested in the immigration raids were mothers and fathers working hard to provide for their families. Some of them might have children they want to put through college so that they don't have to scrub toilets at night. That is what they call the American Dream.
I am sure Wal-Mart's lawyers are working hard right now to make sure they find someone else to blame for the hiring of undocumented workers, and they might end up settling the lawsuit for exploitation of the employees -- a drop in the bucket for one of the richest corporations in America. Unfortunately, those immigrants who scrub its floors and clean its toilets must now worry about fighting deportation orders.
In the meantime, there's a job waiting for you at Wal-Mart. If you're interested. |
