This story is part of a larger package for The Reader and El Perico’s December issue about the state’s tight labor market.
When Alba Martínez worked at Menards she made a good wage: $17 an hour, nearly twice Nebraska’s minimum. But it still wasn’t enough to support her four children and be able to build a house in her home country of Guatemala. Martínez (whose name has been changed to protect her identity) decided to leave for a job cleaning meatpacking machines for $21 an hour.
But like many workers, Martínez had to make trade-offs. Though she makes more money, her hours are long — after a daily 45-minute commute she works 10 hours through the night from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. She says she gets hungry around 3 a.m. but is given no time to eat or sit down.
“Sometimes my boss thinks we are machines,” she said.
Martínez is not alone. Arduous workplace conditions for immigrants — who are far easier to intimidate into toeing the company line — are well-documented, and the pandemic shone a harsh light on them. But the tide may be shifting in their favor. Around the country, the labor market is tightening, nowhere more so than Nebraska, which leads the nation in lowest unemployment. In low-wage industries, where immigrants dominate the workforce, labor shortages are forcing employers to the bargaining table, and empowered workers are banding together to demand change. In some cases workers are putting their hopes in unions, which may be strengthening for the first time in decades.
...
President Donald Trump spoke about his feud with Pope Leo XIV, claiming Pope Leo apparently said Iran “can have a nuclear weapon.” CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins asked Trump why he is fighting again...