| | | | |  | | By Eleanor Mueller | | | | EMPLOYERS' LAME-DUCK IMMIGRATION DREAMS: Employers are praying for a smaller-scale immigration fix when Congress returns next month as they continue struggling to fill open jobs. They've all but given up on a broader immigration reform package. But they think that a smaller chunk of policy — like a border-related measure or migrant farmworker legislation like H.R. 1603 — could be on the table. "It is going to have to be piecemeal," Essential Worker Immigration Coalition Chair Laura Reiff told Weekly Shift. "I don't think we will see comprehensive reform again." But "during lame duck [is a] win-win, right?" Reiff added. "The elections dust is settled. You've got six weeks to pull something together." There were more than 10 million open jobs at last count, which businesses say is partially due to a lack of immigrant workers: "Employment-based immigration represents a very small percentage of permanent legal immigrants, and the system is difficult for both employers and applicants to navigate," the National Association of Manufacturers wrote in its annual report on immigration out this month . "We can't keep kicking this can down the road anymore," American Business Immigration Coalition Executive Director Rebecca Shi told Weekly Shift. "It's pretty dire." Right now, the conversations employers are having on the Hill around immigration are highly divisive. "When you talk to Republican offices, [they say] we have to deal with the border and we can't deal with anything until we deal with the border," Reiff said. "And then Democrat offices are like, 'We have to deal with DACA and TPS adjustment.'" The Biden administration has already done much of what it can, including supplementing the H-2B visa cap earlier this month . That puts the onus on lawmakers: "If Congress could just get their act together … we might be able to get some stabilization of the existing workforce and a new program that reasonably allows people to come into the United States to work when you can't find U.S. workers," Reiff said. Passing a bill like H.R. 1603 on its own or as part of a larger package like an omnibus would have the added benefit of bringing down food prices as inflation remains high, Shi said. "The question is, do you want to keep importing your food or your labor? And we want our food to be domestically produced. So we need labor, and the truth is Americans just don't want to be milking cows at 4 a.m.," she added. GOOD MORNING. It's Monday, Oct. 24. Welcome back to Morning Shift, your go-to tipsheet on employment and immigration news, where we hope our readers can think of better ways to celebrate spooky season at work . Send feedback, tips, and exclusives to emueller@politico.com and nniedzwiadek@politico.com . Follow us on Twitter at @eleanor_mueller and @nickniedz .
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| | | THIS WEEK ON THE RAILROAD: We're slated to get results on Wednesday of the ratification vote of the U.S.' fifth largest freight rail union, Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen. So far, one union — the third largest — has voted no. Results from the two largest are outstanding. Six smaller unions have voted yes.
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| All freight rail unions would strike in solidarity if one of them votes to do so, shutting down much of the nation's network of tracks and boosting the likelihood Congress intervenes. ICYMI: "Meanwhile, some rank-and-file union members are organizing workers to oppose the contracts," our Tanya Snyder reported last week . "Railroad Workers United, an inter-union 'caucus' of railroad workers, is urging union members to vote no. They say 'there has been unprecedented demand' for the T-shirts they sell that show a cobra and say North American railroad workers 'will strike if provoked.' One of the group's leaders, Ross Grooters, told Weekly Shift: "We felt like it was necessary to put that information out there and share the reasons that we're hearing that people are dissatisfied with this contract and want to vote 'no' in this moment — and just give permission for those that needed to people who want to vote no and continue to fight for what we deserve."
| | | PREGNANT WORKERS PRESSURE CAMPAIGN CONTINUES: Advocacy group A Better Balance has a full-page ad in The New York Times today urging Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to bring the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act to the chamber's floor for a vote when Congress returns post-midterms. More than 100 moms working in industries like retail, health care and manufacturing signed the open letter to Schumer pleading with him to not "fail pregnant women and families like us on your watch." Many of them were forced off the job while they were pregnant or immediately after giving birth due to a lack of accommodations. The bill is backed by the ACLU and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Schumer's office did not respond to a request for comment Friday on his plans for the legislation. RESULTS ARE IN ON ARP CHILD CARE: The American Rescue Plan's $24 billion child care stabilization program helped more than 200,000 child care providers keep their doors open to as many as 9.5 million children and continue employing more than 1 million child care workers, the White House announced Friday . More than 8 in 10 licensed child care centers nationwide received assistance. HHS released a state-by-state analysis of exactly where the money went. What happens next: "Simply put, the American Rescue Plan is evidence that federal support for child care works—so I'm fighting to build on this progress," Senate HELP Chair Patty Murray said in a statement. "It's why I included a $1 billion increase for child care in my appropriations bill and why I'm fighting to get that across the finish line. And I'm never going to stop fighting for the big, bold change that families and providers in Washington state deserve." The ARP program will peter out by 2024, which experts estimate will "have disastrous consequences for child care providers still struggling with the lingering impacts of the pandemic, forcing the nation even further into a child care supply crisis" without additional federal funding, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center . OPINION: " After 15 years, low wages forced me out of the child care sector ," from The Seattle Times
| | | FIRST IN SHIFT: Nearly 8 in 10 app-based workers prefer to remain independent contractors, according to a survey conducted by Morning Consult on behalf of Flex Association , which represents companies like DoorDash, Lyft and Uber. It's the first national survey specific to app-based workers, according to Flex Association. Other notable findings: Four in 5 app-based workers say they clock 20 or fewer hours per week. Six in 10 work 10 or fewer hours per week.
| | | WORKERS LAUNCH UNION DRIVE AT LOWE'S: Nearly 200 workers, under the banner of Lowe's Workers United, recently filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board to form Lowe's first U.S. union in New Orleans, The Guardian's Michael Sainato reports . "Lowe's operates or services about 2,000 stores in the US and Canada with more than 300,000 full and part-time employees, and has aggressively opposed unionization efforts. The company has staffed union avoidance investigators, developed anti-union training videos for employees, and lost a case in 2021 at the NLRB over a company policy that prohibited employees from discussing wages."
| | | | JOIN WOMEN RULE THURSDAY FOR A TALK WITH DEPARTING MEMBERS OF CONGRESS: A historic wave of retirements is hitting Congress, including several prominent Democratic women such as Illinois Rep. Cheri Bustos, House Democrats' former campaign chief. What is driving their departures? Join POLITICO on Oct. 27 for "The Exit Interview," a virtual event that will feature a conversation with departing members where they'll explain why they decided to leave office and what challenges face their parties ahead. REGISTER HERE . | | | | | | | | UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS REBUILD FLORIDA: Undocumented workers are providing labor that construction managers say is sorely needed in Sunshine State after Hurricane Ian inflicted billions of dollars in damage, The Washington Post's Maria Sacchetti reports . "Their arrival puts the Republican strongholds that weathered the worst of the storm in an awkward position as they attempt to recover: With low unemployment, a shortage of construction workers and an above-average elderly population, can Florida rebuild without them?" MORE STATE NEWS: " Somewhere between $5.15 and $16 an hour: A list of the minimum wage in every state ," from USA TODAY
| | | — " Why Can't Workers Get the Skills They Need? " from Bloomberg — " Vacancies show a hot labor market. But they could overstate how hot ," from The Washington Post — " Free college? Possibly, as some companies lure hourly workers with college tuition ," from Associated Press — Opinion: " Amazon and Starbucks Votes Show Workers Are Ambivalent About Unions ," from Bloomberg — " Can pay transparency close the wage gap? " from Yahoo News — Opinion: " Unions Ask Illinois Voters to Sign Over Control of the State ," from The Wall Street Journal THAT'S ALL FOR MORNING SHIFT! | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Follow us | | | | |
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