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The Kansas Senate adopted an amendment by Senator Karin Brownlee (R-Olathe) to the immigration reform bill that would put
responsibility for controlling illegal immigration on unions and other employee organizations.
Under the amendment any union or employee organization that would “impose or collect union dues from any alien who is not
lawfully present in the United States” would be subject to fines from $2,000 to $10,000. The amendment was adopted in the wee hours on a vote of 19 to 18.
It is important to note that the Senators repeatedly rejected attempts to impose punishments on employers who knowingly hire
illegal aliens. In other words, in Kansas, while employers are free to do whatever they want when hiring, employee groups will be punished for fraternizing with other employees.
This is a new low for the Kansas Senate. A majority of them are happy to turn a blind eye to the hiring of illegal aliens and
will use immigration reform to bust unions.
So here is the scenario:
- An employer, knowing that he will not be punished for
hiring an illegal, puts the illegal alien to work side by side with unionized American workers.
- The union, believing that the employer would not hire
illegal aliens (that is illegal, you know), signs the employee up as a member of the union.
- The union is now subject to criminal action and fines even though the union has no ability to verify the legal status of a
worker.
What a boon this will be to union busting employers! All they have to do is drop in a few illegal aliens, let the union recruit
them, then make sure the union gets reported for collecting dues. The fines help to bankrupt the union and the employer gets off free and easy!
Brownlee argued that she was protecting these workers from “exploitation” by a union that had no intention of
providing them with benefits. Oh, after the union gets caught “exploiting” the worker saved by this “protection,” the government can get about the business of deporting him.
This amendment – and the bill it is on – rise to a new level of hypocrisy. Senators who claim to want to stop
illegal immigration into Kansas do nothing to remove the primary reason undocumented workers come to this country – jobs. Employers enjoy the benefit of very low wages payable to illegal immigrants
and they lobbied hard to block any attempt to institute punishments for employers who knowingly hire illegal workers. They stand against minimum wage increases that would make jobs more appealing to
citizens. And now their “pro-business” friends in the Senate have delivered. There will be no punishment for law-breaking employers and they get the bonus of a state-sponsored tool for union
busting.
The “pro-business/anti-union” Senators voting YES on the Brownlee union busting amendment were Republicans Barbara Allen (Overland Park), Karin Brownlee (Olathe), Terry Bruce (Hutchinson), Pete Brungardt (Salina), Les Donovan (Wichita), Julia Lynn (Olathe), Carolyn McGinn (Sedgwick), Steve Morris (Hugoton), Roger Pine (Lawrence), Roger Reitz (Manhattan), Derek Schmidt (Independence), Vicki Schmidt (Topeka), Jean Schodorf (Wichita), Ruth Teichman (Stafford), Dwayne Umbarger (Thayer), John Vratil (Leawood), Susan Wagle (Wichita), Dennis Wilson (Overland Park), and David Wysong (Mission Hills).
Those Senators who stood up for fairness and voted NO were Republicans Pat Apple (Louisburg), Tim Huelskamp (Meade), Phil Journey (Wichita), Ralph Ostmeyer (Grinnell), Peggy Palmer (Augusta), Mike Petersen (Wichita), Dennis Pyle (Hiawatha), and Mark Taddiken (Clifton) and Democrats Jim Barone (Frontenac), Donald Betts (Wichita), Marci Francisco (Lawrence), Mark Gilstrap, Greta Goodwin (Winfield), David Haley (Kansas City), Anthony Hensley (Topeka), Laura Kelly (Topeka), Janis Lee (Kensington), and Chris Steineger (Kansas City).
Senators Jim Barnett (R-Emporia) and Jay Emler (R-Lindsborg) passed. Senator Jordan (R-Shawnee) was absent.
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