(Editor’s note: The following is an e-mail send to members of the Arizona Home Builders of Central Arizona by HBACA Executive Director Connie Wilhelm)
Congress has been working to craft an immigration bill and a group of Senators including Senators McCain and Flake have been meeting to negotiate language that is acceptable to business and labor unions.
Our priorities are to get a bill with a workable guest worker program to help get more workers into the construction industry and to limit liability for using the e-verify program.
As expected, the labor unions have been making unreasonable demands. One such provision states that any category of job that is covered by Davis Bacon (the union prevailing wage law) would be ineligible for the guest worker program. This would apply to all private sector industries whether or not they are unionized. Effectively that means no construction workers (skilled or unskilled) could ever be hired under the guest worker program. The unions don’t want the construction trades included in the guest worker program and are attempting to make it a deal breaker.
Unfortunately some of the Senate Republicans negotiating this bill think it is more important to get a guest worker program than it is to include the construction trades in the bill. They need to hear from you today!!!
Call Senator McCain’s office at : 202-224-2235
Call Senator Flake’s office at : 202-224-4521
and tell them not to sell out the construction industry to the unions!!
Thank you for your prompt response to this request.
