These oft-feuding groups agree on the need to enact a way for the 11 million immigrants illegally in the United States to gain citizenship. And they are also nearing common ground on a critical issue — the number of guest workers allowed into the country — that has deeply divided business and labor for years and helped to sink President George W. Bush’s push for an immigration overhaul in 2007.

In redefining what constitutes a guest worker and in revamping the method to determine how many should be allowed in, business and labor groups are sketching out new proposals that are distinct departures from earlier legislative approaches.

The issue has long been one of contention, with businesses like hotels and farmers saying they need a large supply of seasonal workers while unions complain that these workers are often exploited. To try to resolve their differences, they are discussing what they call a “data-driven system” that would determine how many “provisional workers” would be let in each year to work on farms, summer resorts and elsewhere.

One proposal labor is pushing would have Congress establish a panel that would use economic, industry and regional data (like unemployment rates) to determine how many provisional workers should be allowed in annually to work in industries, like farming, that have seasonal surges in their demand for laborers. But business groups say they worry that such a panel would be unwieldy and act too slowly to meet employers’ needs.

Under the proposals, the number of provisional workers permitted might increase when America’s unemployment rate was low and then shrink if the rate was high. In addition, many of these provisional visa holders, after working successfully in the United States for several years, might be given permanent residency that could lead to citizenship.

In another important step forward, many labor unions have joined with the Chamber of Commerce and other business groups in embracing E-Verify, a federal electronic system that uses Social Security numbers and other data to verify that newly hired workers are in the country legally. Union leaders have frequently denounced E-Verify as error-prone, a continuing concern. They said it often declared that immigrants with valid papers were not authorized to work.

When President Bush pushed for an immigration overhaul in 2007, many unions — long detesting the guest-worker program — helped to persuade the Senate to phase out that program within five years. Once that phaseout was approved, many business groups grew far less enthusiastic about the immigration effort. That encouraged many Republicans — already uneasy about what they viewed as “amnesty” — to vote against the plan.

Maria Elena Durazo, the chairwoman of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s immigration committee, said labor’s opposition to the guest-worker program was longstanding. “Guest workers have no rights and no voice and no possibility of ever becoming legalized,” she said. “If they protest about wages or unsafe conditions, they risk getting deported.”

Many businesses have complaints with the current guest-worker program, disliking the frequent requirement to place advertisements to determine whether American workers are available before they can bring in guest workers.

“You have to go through four government agencies and often hire a lawyer and an agent,” said Shawn McBurney, senior vice president of governmental affairs at the American Hotel and Lodging Association. “It’s unbelievably complicated, cumbersome and expensive.”

Labor unions have urged business to embrace a plan pushed by Ray Marshall, labor secretary under President Jimmy Carter. He suggests creating a commission of experts who would use economic data to determine, for instance, whether 20,000 or 40,000 immigrants should be granted provisional visas to do seasonal work nationwide at shellfish plants, restaurants or apple orchards.

Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/08/business/business-and-labor-unite-to-try-to-alter-immigration-laws.html?partner=rss&emc=rss