Just as all seemed like smooth sailing on the immigration reform waters, the negotiations involving an immigration bill that would rework the nation's immigration laws seems like it has hit a snag with labor unions.
Sources with knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters that the eight senators involved in the immigration reform talks-which aim to provide a path to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants and reinforce border security and employee background checks-had initially agreed to a plan on controlling wage levels for low-skilled immigrant workers that would be allowed to work in the U.S. on temporary visas.
The senate plan would have proposed a pay scale based on median wages in industries and regional markets. However, the plan differs from the AFL-CIO labor union's suggestion of a higher pay scale for immigrant workers that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce isn't as willing to accept.
While Democrats and Republicans accepted the plan, sources said the labor union rejected the proposal. When asked, the nationwide labor union claimed that the Republicans had actually rejected the plan.
Both the chamber and the AFL-CIO recently agreed to a plan that would give up to 250,000 visas to foreign workers in jobs where U.S. companies can't find enough American workers to fill. However, the wages for said workers is still an issue where both sides have yet to find any common ground.
Chamber vice president Randel Johnson, the business organization's lead negotiator, told the Washington Post in a statement said that the "unions have jeopardized the entire immigration reform effort ... because of their refusal to take a responsible stance on a small temporary worker program."
The AFL-CIO fired back, stating that the coalition of immigrants and union workers who voted for President Obama in the November election wanted a solution on immigration and a half to deportations, not a new type of worker visa program.
"There is no moral or political logic behind greedy elements of the business community thinking that they can hijack immigrant activism in order to further reduce the wages of housekeepers and gardeners, and so their temper tantrum this week will ultimately fail," Jeff Hauser, a spokesman for the AFL-CIO, said in a statement from the union.
Yet amidst this latest setback, legislators working on the deal--who are preparing to take a two-week break for Easter vacations--are still optimistic that they can get a deal done by April 8, when the Senate resumes.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., part of the bipartisan senate panel working on the bill, told the Chicago Tribune Friday that he was "guardedly optimistic" about the negotiations; however, he acknowledged, "we hit bumps every five minutes."
Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters this week that his group would have a deal done by the end of the month, which was their timetable for doing so, adding that it would be "an agreement with a darn good chance of becoming law."
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