The growth of immigrant labor in the building trades has been particularly significant. According to a recent report from the Pew Hispanic Center, the construction industry alone accounted for more than half of the total Latino job gains in 2003. In addition, immigrant workers now make up more than 10 percent of the entire American construction workforce. Moreover, that growth has not occurred only in the “traditional” immigrant states. For example, the Tennessean reported in 2003 that immigrants hold more than half all the housing industry jobs in the Nashville metropolitan area. Although the total number of new apprentices accepted for training varies according to the trade or craft and local market conditions, most national building and construction trade unions report significant increases in applications for membership on the part of immigrant workers.

This demographic reality has meant real changes in the legal responsibilities of union hiring halls, especially regarding the provisions of the Immigration and Naturalization Act (INA).

Beginning in the fall, the AFL-CIO Working for America Institute, in collaboration with the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, will be offering three regional train-the-trainer programs to educate union representatives, union leaders, and labor educators within the building trades unions about the rights and responsibilities of workers and employers under the anti-discrimination provisions of the INA.

For more information about these training sessions, please email info@workingforamerica.org or call Jean Pierce, 202-974- 8123.