A deal between the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and labor groups on visas for low-skilled workers was supposed to clear a path for an immigration reform package in the Senate.
Instead, some business groups are grumbling about the deal and they?re gearing up for a lobbying battle on Capitol Hill ? where powerful interests helped doom immigration reform over the same issue before.
On Wednesday, the construction industry was the first to go public, saying they are ?deeply concerned? about the temporary worker program and that the cap on construction visas is ?simply unrealistic and destined to fail.?
Other industries are expected to make announcements opposing the deal in the coming days.
Several business lobbyists told POLITICO that many industries oppose the plan, but are hesitant to put out statements before seeing legislative language. Others have kept their powder dry because they worry about other key provisions ? like employer verification ? that are still under discussion.
Labor unions successfully lobbied to cap the number of low-skilled foreign workers allowed in the U.S. at 200,000. The construction industry, which has suffered high unemployment in the economic downturn, was specifically singled out with limits put on the number of visas that can be awarded to construction companies.
The chamber ? the lead negotiator for business ? released a statement after the deal became public this weekend that didn?t fully endorse it.
?Ultimately the final decisions will be made by the senators involved,? Randy Johnson of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said at the time.
Chamber spokeswoman Blair Latoff Holmes said Wednesday, before the construction industry went public, that the chamber and AFL-CIO made clear to senators that there are areas of agreement and disagreement and that lawmakers would ?presumably take that framework to help shape legislation.?
?A temporary worker program is a critical component of comprehensive immigration reform because it will allow employers to fill jobs when American workers are not available,? Latoff Holmes said. ?We are pleased that a structure for a new lesser-skilled program is close to being finalized, and we look forward to seeing legislative language.
The deal would allow no more than 15,000 visas per year to be allocated to construction occupations, according to details of the plan circulated by the AFL-CIO.
The construction groups argue that the visa program for an industry that employs 6 million workers should be determined by market demand.
?A guest worker program that fails to provide a sufficient number of visas to meet market demand as the construction sector recovers will inevitably make it harder to fill critical labor openings and make it impossible to secure the border,? the groups said in a statement.
The statement was signed by the Associated Builders and Contractors, Associated General Contractors of America, Leading Builders of America, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Electrical Contractors Association and the National Roofing Contractors Association, which represent all aspects of the commercial and residential construction industries.
The future flow deal was billed as the last major hurdle for the Gang of Eight to cross before putting out legislation as early as next week.
This isn?t the first time that the program has held hostage the immigration overhaul. Senators had hoped to come to an agreement before the two-week recess, but could not after labor and business opposed the product. After days of working to get closer, it had appeared there was a final agreement.
But since key business and labor negotiators and lawmakers signed off on the deal late last week the response by the business community has been tepid at best.
ImmigrationWorks USA, a coalition of business groups, was one of the only others to comment. The group?s leader Tamar Jacoby praised the progress, but also pointed to the size of the program and the construction industry provisions as problematic.
?The Republican Senators in the Gang of Eight did the best they could under the circumstances. But the deal is skewed by union demands ? and several of its most ingenious, most thoughtful elements may not work as intended on the ground, primarily because the program is too small,? Jacoby said.
International Franchise Association CEO Steve Caldeira also told POLITICO he is concerned about the size of the program and economic indicators used as triggers.
?Obviously we would like to see a number higher than 20,000 workers at the start of the program, particularly given the woefully inadequate 66,000 number in the H-2B program fills up almost immediately,? Caldeira said, noting that is why moving the legislation through regular order is so important. ?If Americans want the jobs that employers need to fill, they would be first in line to get them and there would be less need for foreign workers. But the need will always exist to some degree, and a guest-worker program that permits a market-based supply of lower-skill workers is essential. Without such a program, no immigration reform bill will be worthy of the name.?
Source: http://dreamact.info/forum/showthread.php?t=42995
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