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1-888-DIGNIDAD & Making Chicago a No-Match Free Zone...

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Some of the most innovative and essential work being accomplished by both the labor movement and the movement for immigrant rights is, once again, happening right here in Chicago. The Chicago Committee Against No-Match Letters and the Rapid Response Network, lead by the UE (United Electrical Workers Union), Chicago Workers Collaborative, UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) Local 881, Interfaith Worker Justice and other Chicago area workers centers, has organized a fight back against Social Security “no-match” letters and ICE workplace raids in an effort to make Chicago a no-match and ICE raid free zone. The goal is to make the economic, political and social costs of terrorzing immigrant workers through no-match letters and workplace raids so high for employers and their friends at DHS (Department of Homeland Security) that they will be forced to back off.

This is an extremely important effort, as no-match letters and ICE raids are a key strategy of the anti-immigrant forces who are pursuing what they call an "Attrition through Enforcement" strategy (for more on this see the last link on this page). Those who oppose rights for immigrants and working people have mobilized behind their strategy – we need to counter their attack with a strategy of our own, based on mobilizing our communities and hitting them were it hurts – their corporate bottom line. Unscrupulous employers have already used no-match letters, often illegally, to intimidate workers who are trying to organize or improve conditions in their workplace. But the Chicago Committee Against No-Match has successfully assisted hundreds of workers organize in their workplaces and beat back the employers assault. At the heart of the effort is UE’s innovative 1-888-DIGNIDAD hotline number, where immigrant workers can call for information and support.

Read the following article on the Labor Notes website for more…
http://labornotes.org/node/1446

Listen to the following Labor Express Radio programs with interviews from leading activists in the Chicago Committee Against No-Match Letters…
http://www.archive.org/details/LE12-9-07

http://www.archive.org/details/LE11-25-07

Here is an article with more info on how the anti-immigrant forces are planning out their strategy (note, I am not all that familiar with this organization, and many of their policy positions listed on their website, I am not in agreement with, but this is a very interestingly article)…
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/4816


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