Dangerous jobs take toll on illegal immigrants (Chicago Tribune)

[Omaha Steve]

Dangerous jobs take toll on illegal immigrants

By Stephen Franklin and Darnell Little

Chicago Tribune

(MCT)

CHICAGO - Before the accident, he had warned the owner of the small dry cleaner that the pressing machine was old and dangerous. But his boss told him to forget about it, and Mario, fearful of losing his job, didn't say another word.

Then one day last winter the massive, steaming press collapsed on Mario's left arm, melting the skin, mangling his fist and costing him a $5.70-an-hour job. There was no health insurance, no worker's compensation benefit and no severance pay offered, Mario said.

"If you don't have papers, you work 8 or 10 hours a day, six days a week, and you don't complain," said the muscular, middle-age illegal immigrant from Mexico.

Much of the furor over immigration reform has been about whether undocumented workers like Mario should be allowed to stay in the U.S. or made to leave. But beyond that debate lies an undeniable fact: They face disproportionate dangers on the job.

For most Americans, the workplace is much safer than it was a decade ago. This is not the case for many Latinos, who remain trapped in an earlier, more brutal era of industrialization. They lead throwaway lives, and their plight is nearly invisible because so many live in the shadows.

Over the last decade, Latino workers' fatality rates have soared, outstripping their share of the workforce. With more Latinos on the job, many suffer a hefty dose of injuries from some of the most dangerous jobs, according to government statistics and interviews with union, workplace safety and public health experts, as well as workers.

FULL stroy at link above.

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[pooja]

1. Hmm... seems to me coming to America wasn't really worth it.

They should have demanded more from their own, who were conveniently selling it out... But then again, what govt doesn't take advantage of people and sell them short?