The AFL-CIO and the Chamber had been fighting over wages for tens of thousands of low-skilled workers who would be brought in under the new program to fill jobs in construction, hotels and resorts, nursing homes and restaurants and other industries.
March 27, 2013: In this photo on the Twitter account of Ariz. GOP Sen. John McCain, he and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., left, stand with U.S. Border Patrol agents in Nogales, Ariz.
Organized labor and big business have reached a deal on a new, low-skilled workers program that will help clear the way for Capitol Hill immigration reform, but President Obama and a leading Republican senator maintain cautious optimism about a final deal.
The deal was reached during a Friday night phone call between AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka and U.S. Chamber of Commerce chief executive Tom Donohue, according to several news organizations and confirmed by Fox News.
The deal was brokered by New York Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer, who also was on the phone call and is one of eight senators working on bipartisan reform legislation.
“This issue has always been the dealbreaker on immigration reform, but not this time,” Schumer said.
“The strength of the consensus across America for just reform has afforded us the momentum needed to forge an agreement in principle to develop a new type of employer visa system,” Trumka said in a statement late Saturday. “We expect that this new program, which benefits not just business, but everyone, will promote long overdue reforms by raising the bar for existing programs.”
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