(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . In major win for immigrant and labor rights, OSHA can now aid in visa process for exploited workers [1] ['Daily Kos Staff', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-02-14 “OSHA is charged with protecting workers’ rights by enforcing the nation’s health and safety laws,” Arriba Las Vegas Worker Center’s Bliss Requa-Trautz and Georgia Familias Unidas’ Maria del Rosario Palacios said in a joint statement. “It only makes sense to utilize the full authority of the Department of Labor to ensure abusive employers are brought to task, and to protect the immigrant workers who experience and report these abuses.” They said Foundation Food Groups workers organized with the support of Georgia Familias Unidas to push for reform after a “deadly and preventable” explosion killed six poultry workers in the state in 2021. At least two were immigrant workers. “In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, workers at the Poultry plant reported threats related to immigration before their vital signs were even taken,” Requa-Trautz and Palacios said. In Nevada, workers with “crooked” painting company Unforgettable Coatings won a nearly $3.7 million settlement after “years of wage theft and retaliatory threats,” including employers instructing workers to lie to investigators. The Labor Department said OSHA’s new authority will go into effect quickly, at the end of next month. The memorandum was signed into place on Monday. “Expanding OSHA’s U and T visa certification authority helps the agency better fulfill its mission to make U.S. workplaces as safe and healthy as possible,” said Doug Parker, assistant secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health. “Workers in the U.S. need to feel empowered and able to trust OSHA and the U.S. Department of Labor enough to voice their concerns about workplace safety regardless of their immigration status and fears of retaliation.” This is just the latest in the Biden administration’s numerous reforms protecting immigrant whistleblowers against retaliation, last month announcing that victims of labor-related abuses can now more efficiently access crucial protections against deportation. But that policy change in fact benefits all workers by reining in abusive employers. It also upends an argument used by nativists, who have often pitted workers against each other in their efforts to oppose immigration. Immigration reform, by the way, would have profound positive effects in terms of economic growth, creating jobs, and raise wages for all workers. Americans overwhelmingly support a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, yet the small percentage of nativists who oppose immigration oftentimes get outsized coverage by mainstream outlets that legitimize them through “both sides” coverage. The Biden administration in 2021 also took critical steps to further protect immigrants who are in the process of applying for a U-visa, a process that can stretch out for years due to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services backlogs. Officials said they would expand work permit access for applicants, ensuring they can continue working to support themselves and their families as they wait for their paperwork to be adjudicated. Requa-Trautz and Palacios said that while the cases outlined earlier “are merely the tip of a vast iceberg of employer exploitation abuse,” the Labor Department’s decision this week, along with other recent reforms, “is another excellent step forward.” “We urge the Biden administration—starting at the top, with the President himself—to proudly own and publicly proclaim the value of these policies in securing immigrants’ rights and workers’ rights,” they continued. “Very good decisions have been made—now all immigrant workers and the public at large need to know about them, so these policies can have the maximum good effect.” RELATED STORIES: Biden admin announces critical changes protecting undocumented immigrants abused at workplace How the Biden admin's new whistleblower policy also upends nativist arguments against immigration Advocates say new ICE order backing off immigrant crime victims is 'powerful policy'—if followed [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/14/2152913/-In-major-win-for-immigrant-and-labor-rights-OSHA-can-now-aid-in-visa-process-for-exploited-workers Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/