The failure to enforce even weak U.S. labor laws has created an incentive for many employers to hire undocumented immigrant workers, several experts told a House committee earlier this week.

During the hearing, a chilling audiotape was played of an employer’s phone message to an immigrant worker who simply wanted to be paid for the work he had done. Listen to it and read more at the AFL-CIO Now Blog.

On April 28, AFSCME and the other unions of the AFL-CIO observe Workers Memorial Day to remember those who have suffered and died on the job and to renew the fight for safe workplaces. The toll of workplace injuries, illnesses and deaths is enormous. Each year, thousands of workers are killed, and millions more are injured or diseased because of their jobs.

Our fight for safe jobs has gotten harder because for more than seven years the Bush administration has refused to act. Instead, at the behest of corporate interests, the administration has moved to roll back workplace protections. Voluntary compliance has been favored over new standards and enforcement. Many workers have little or no safety and health protections, and major workplace hazards remain unaddressed.

This year, with the election, there is an opportunity to change the direction of the country and make workers’ issues a priority once again. More than three decades ago, Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health Act, promising every worker the right to a safe job. AFSCME and other unions have fought hard to make that promise a reality, winning safety and health protections that have saved hundreds of thousand of lives and prevented millions of workplace injuries. Yet millions of public employees across the country are still not protected by basic occupational safety and health laws.

On Workers Memorial Day, we will continue that fight. We will fight to create good jobs in this country and to guarantee health care for all. We will fight for the freedom of workers to form unions and, through their unions, to speak out and bargain for safe jobs, respect and a better future. We will demand that the country fulfill the promise of safe jobs. For all.