Workers Fired After "A Day Without Immigrants"

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Dozens of participants in the "A Day Without Immigrants" protest in the United States went from euphoria to unemployment after some of their bosses fired them.

Thousands of workers did not go to work on Thursday to support this movement aimed at demonstrating the contribution of workers from other countries to the US economy, as well as rejecting President Donald Trump's new immigration policy.

However, not everyone accepted the absence of the workers who demonstrated in a good way. As reported by NBC News, in states like Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma and New York some bosses decided to fire their employees who missed their jobs to join the protests of the day.

Robert Peal, a lawyer for Bradley Coatings, a Tennessee commercial paint company that laid off nearly 20 employees, reported in a statement that the company previously warned them that they risked being fired if they failed to report for work. Of those 20, 18 did not attend and were dismissed.

For his part, Jim Serowski, founder of the JVS Masonry company in Commerce City, Colorado, fired his foreman and 30 bricklayers because, he told CNN, he warned them earlier that they would be laid off if they didn't show up for work. "If you are going to defend what you believe in, you have to be willing to pay the price," said the businessman.

In South Carolina, Encore Boat Builders fired 21 workers because, according to their owner, Steve Deese, they would have violated company regulation without notifying them that they would be absent from work.

An Oklahoma restaurant called I Don't Care Bar and Grill fired 12 of its cooks. According to its owner, Bill McNally, none of them would have warned that he would not report to work. "I'm on your side, but we have rules," he told CNN. "If you're going to be late, call. If you are not coming to work, call us. That's the American way (of doing it).”

The restaurant's decision prompted many to turn to their Facebook page - where they placed an ad looking for new employees - to repudiate their decision, while hundreds of others applauded it.

The BBC news network reported that although the exact number of the dismissed protesters is not available, it is believed that it could be more than one hundred.