Richard Trumka: Labor/Business Immigration Deal No Sure Thing

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Richard Trumka, head of the AFL-CIO, is warning that talks with the Chamber of Commerce to produce a compromise proposal on immigration — seen as an important step to passing a bill — may not yield results. 

“I’ll be honest with you. I can’t guarantee we’ll get an agreement with the Chamber,” Trumka told Univision News last Friday. “But one thing I can guarantee you is that we won’t stop fighting for immigrant workers until they get citizenship.”

Senators working on a bipartsan bill have also complained labor issues, mostly concerning the contours of a new guest worker program, are among the most contentious remaining areas of negotiation. The AFL-CIO and Chamber of Commerce released a common set of principles last month outlining a broad framework for a new visa combined with worker protections and an agency to gather data on labor markets. But that was only a barebones document and both sides have said they still have a long way to go before a more detailed agreement. 

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