(Indianapolis) At least 2 workers fired after immigration rally

[hippiechick]

... is this happening elsewhere, too ? :shrug:

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060413/NEWS01/604130468

At least 2 workers fired after Indy's immigration rally

By Tania E. Lopez

Organizers of this week's massive immigration rally in Downtown Indianapolis said they have reports of nearly 20 demonstrators who say they were fired after they joined the march.

Today, members of the Indiana Justice for Immigrants Coalition will go on the city's two Spanish-language radio stations to urge anyone who thinks they were wrongly terminated to come forward. Tedd Cain, an organizer with the coalition, said the group may sue the companies or take other action.

On Wednesday, The Indianapolis Star confirmed two cases in the metro area, and reports have surfaced in Detroit and Chicago of other firings after a recent series of protests.

Coalition leaders hope that confirming the local reports, which began surfacing Tuesday, will give them a tool to use against companies they accuse of treating illegal immigrants unfairly. "Obviously, they know who they are hiring in the first place," said Ken Moran, a coalition organizer. "These are the players we are looking for, and they are raising their head and popping up, and we have the hammer."

Once the coalition finishes collecting the names of companies that sacked workers, Moran said, the group plans to make the list public.

... more at link ...

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. If they were fired for walking off their jobs without permission...

I doubt there is anything they can do. The challenge is going to be proving that they were fired because they participated in the rally.

[Mike Daniels]

11. I think it comes down to exactly as you put it.

I work in a non-profit and outside of an emergency situation I can't just up and tell my boss I'm leaving early or not going to come in to work without getting prior approval.

Well, I could but I would also reasonably expect that I may not have a job come the following day.

If the boss refused their request for time off (his right) or if they just up and went then I don't think they have a case regardless of whether the business suffered during the time they were absent.

[Newsjock]

2. Seattle Times: Latinos fired for leaving work early to attend rally

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2002927620_painters13m.html

A Monroe-based home-painting contractor fired more than a quarter of its employees — all of them Latino — Tuesday morning, a day after the painters left work two hours early to attend Monday's immigration rally in downtown Seattle.

The company, Laitala Enterprises, and the fired workers agree on this much: That the workers told their foreman Monday morning of their desire to attend the rally, that they left early, and that their departure didn't delay the schedule of a painting job in a Fife subdivision.

But the two sides don't agree on facts critical to determining whether what the workers did amounted to insubordination and abandoning their jobs, as the company claimed in dismissing them. The company said 17 were fired; their union said 19.

[xchrom]

3. ...

:grr:

[Robb]

4. Good buddy of mine's a stone mason

...He's the only non-Hispanic on his crew. :)

Anyhow, they all came to him and let him know they'd be at the march. It seemed like a big deal, in that they were really nervous about telling him and almost didn't. He said cool, good on ya, and scheduled accordingly. Then phoned the paper and let them know he was supporting the effort.

I don't think it's OK to blow off work, no matter what. There are good ways to go about it. But I can also imagine being concerned about a less-than-understanding employer. My buddy's really cool, has helped a lot of his guys become citizens. Not everyone's that way. :shrug:

[bigluckyfeet]

6. Employers Do Not Need a Reason

To fire you.

[superconnected]

8. I think the problem here is a spiteful republican business owner.

It doesn't matter that they are really good workers, and that they asked before they left, and that it didn't affect the business for that day.

They got fired anyway.

I hope these immigrants DON'T go back to work for someone like that. No matter how hard they work, won't matter.


--

I have to add something. I closed my business in December. It catered to the wealthy and I only employed immigrants. It didn't matter how hard they worked or how good of a job they did. Most of the clients were nice to the latinos faces and super verbally insulting to them behind their back, because the workers were mexicans. I kept dropping accounts because of the blanket racist comments the rich clients kept making. I will never run a business that services the rich again. I think you have to see it to truly understand why GW and his mom Barbara Bush really couldn't give a rats ass if mexicans were burned alive in front of them. They would complain about the smell and any discomfort to themselves. They don't have the compassion ability to feel for someone they consider *less* than them. I think there's a big problem with people who have never had to struggle financially, or have never been a minority, to have compassion for someone who has.

You can bet the business owner above, made a ton off the mexicans and paid them as little as he could. He used them and threw them away.

[bahrbearian]

5. I was told that I would be fired if I attended the Anti-War Rallies

and the Owner of the Business, was anti-war. He felt that Politics shouldn't govern the workplace.

[superconnected]

7. However threatening you for what you do in your time outside of work

even if it's on a day you would be at work but you requested time off,
is still governing your worksite with politics.

Why should he friggen care what you do off the property if it doesn't involve a violent crime.

[bahrbearian]

9. I think he was worried about all the rupugs at our shop would then

demand a day off to see the Chimp, or shooter,, it just gets the ball rolling,,, If you leave work without being sick or having a familiy matter, they have grounds, especialy if you have a history of doing so.

[warrens]

10. 15 at one meat plant

Fifteen immigrant women were fired from their jobs as meat cutters after attending a protest for immigrant rights.

The women had been told they would be terminated if they missed work on the day of the March 27 rally in Detroit, Jay Bonahoom, general manager of Detroit-based Wolverine Packing Co. told the Detroit Free Press

But the women said they received no such warning, and would not have skipped the morning shift had they known they be fired for attending the rally.

www.meatingplace.com