Janice R. Fine: Immigrant Workers Then and Now

Janice R. Fine, Rutgers University
Remembering the Triangle Fire – Immigrant Workers Then and Now
The Graduate Center, CUNY
March 24, 2011

Political scientist and labor studies professor Janice Fine spoke on a panel as part of the 100th anniversary remembrance of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. She contrasts the situation of immigrant workers in at the turn of the twentieth century with low-wage immigrant workers today. This nineteen-minute talk covers the issues of migration and the role of migrants in the labor force, immigration policy, labor standards and occupational health, and trends in immigrant worker organizing. From 1990 to 2000 more immigrants arrived in the U.S. than in any previous decade, and while many lessons can be learned from past struggles for immigrant workers’ rights Professor Fine notes the ways that ethnicity, legal status, and the changing nature of work impact opportunities for low-wage immigrant workers and their ability to organize.