PHOENIX (By Yvonne Wingett, Arizona Republic) September 6, 2004 - Union leaders are on a mission to recruit Latinos, capitalizing on shocking accounts of abuse and exploitation, on migration from Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and on Arizona's burgeoning service and construction industries.

Labor leaders hope their efforts will reverse a nationwide decline in union membership, which has traditionally been rooted in manufacturing, and strengthen their political power in other states.

"It's like the second coming of the civil rights movement," said Gary Chaison, professor of industrial relations at Clark University in Worcester, Mass. "The labor union has rediscovered Hispanic workers."

The uphill push to unionize Hispanics, historically blamed for undercutting pay, isn't new. But the scale is unprecedented in its ambition, and the range of industries looking to unionize is greater than ever, experts said.

The effort comes partly because Latino workers, legal and undocumented, are doing most of the state's unskilled, low-paying labor, they said. Many are recent immigrants, or first-generation Hispanics, working in construction, hospitality and health care, officials said.

Variety of industries

They lay bricks for homes, hammer down floors and paint sun rooms. At spas, resorts and hotels they make beds, tidy rooms and wash sheets. They slice pastrami at the supermarket, bag groceries and stock produce.

They build roofs, like Henry Rodas. Before joining Ironworkers Local 75 a few years ago, the Guatemalan worked in the sun with few water breaks, few vacation days and no benefits for his family.

"Now, everything is muy bueno (very good)," said Rodas, a 30-year-old father of two who now makes $16.50 an hour. "Now, it's different. Now we have information. We have bathroom breaks. We have vacation. More money."

Overall decline

Nationwide, union membership dropped 369,000 to 15.8 million between 2002 and 2004, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unions represented 12.9 percent of all workers in 2004, down from 20.1 percent in 1983, the first year comparable data became available.

At the same time, union membership among Hispanics grew slightly. Of the nation's 16.1 million Hispanic workers in 2004, 1.7 million belonged to unions. In 2002, 1.6 million of the 15.5 million Hispanic workers belonged, the bureau reported. Of Arizona's 2.2 million workers during the same time period, union membership dipped to 113,000 in 2004, from 121,000 members in 2002. Specific figures for Hispanics in the state were not available.

There's a flurry of organization among Hispanics here, despite the state's right-to-work laws, which allow people to work without joining a union.

"The strongest uptick is among immigrant workers," said Stewart Acuff, national organizing director of the AFL-CIO in Washington, D.C. "We're organizing more Latino construction workers in Arizona than almost anywhere else. Other construction unions are now beginning to organize more in Arizona, including the ironworkers and the painters."

Unions court Hispanics through language, skin color and culture to combat suspicion and mistrust. Spanish-speaking organizers show up at construction sites and in communities to educate workers on organized labor. Hispanic organizers, who don't ask potential members about their legal status, make connections at churches through priests and clergy and follow up with house calls.

The effort here shows promise because many Hispanics identify with dignity issues, civil rights issues and job rights, Chaison said.

Employers must treat workers fairly regardless of their legal status, according to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which protects workers based on national origin, race, sex and age.

But Hispanic workers often respond because they're broken by exploitation, local leaders said. Problems include threats of deportation by employers, denial of water and bathroom breaks and, in one suspected case in San Luis, confining workers during work hours so they wouldn't steal equipment.

Developing into leaders

"We are helping them develop into leaders, into political subjects, people that start fending for themselves," said Carlos Duarte, 32, a lead organizer with the United Union of Roofers, Water proofers and Allied Workers Local 135.

The roofers union, which organized in Arizona four years ago because of the construction boom, represents at least 700 workers, about 95 percent of them Hispanic.

"Had they not organized immigrants, (the roofer union) wouldn't have sustained," Duarte said.

While unions might be successful in increasing Latino membership, one local expert believes the effort will wane. Hispanic workers, especially immigrants, might not realize the weakened power of unions in the United States, said Dawn McLaren, research economist at Arizona State University's Bank One Economic Outlook Center.

To Mexican nationals, unionization here doesn't translate the same way it does south of the border, where unions often wield tremendous power.

"They don't know that the labor unions had the carpet pulled out of them in the '80s," when President Reagan fired more than 11,000 air-traffic controllers for striking illegally, McLaren said. "(Unions) may be successful in increasing their membership. As for increasing their power, having more membership, does that give them (power) or just more money to push their candidate because it's an election year?"

Unionization among Arizona's Hispanics began in the early 1900s in the small mining towns of Miami, Superior and Morenci, an era in which unionization throughout the country was intense. The movement was set back after World War I, when the government opposed unionization, said Arturo Rosales, an ASU history professor.

By 1950, Mexican miners in Arizona were at the forefront of organizing and unionizing, he said.

Gonzalo Frias of Mesa recalls a time in the 1960s when union leaders were powerful and employers honored strikes.

A lot of conflict

"The Mexican was paid $1 less than the Anglo because they were Mexicans," said Frias, 66, former president of the United Steel Workers of America Local 5252. "There was a lot of conflict, of course. Relationships weren't good between the Mexicans and the Anglos. And the Anglos felt superior because they were being paid $1 more. Both were being exploited."