Woodfin to Workers: “Merry Christmas, You’re Fired”

Just 10 days before Christmas, the Woodfin Suites hotel in Emeryville fired 21 immigrant workers who have been involved in a campaign to enforce the city’s living wage law. On Friday, December 15th, Woodfin management placed the workers on two weeks suspension with pay and terminated them effective December 29 due to Social Security “no-matches.”

This heartless action is the latest in a national wave of mass firings of immigrant workers – many union workers or workers organizing for their rights – justified by Social Security “no-matches.” On December 12th, over a thousand workers in six Swift and Company meatpacking plants were arrested in a raid by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. In November, 400 workers were fired by Cintas, a national laundry chain with plants in the Bay Area. Yet, Social Security “no-match” letters provide no legal basis for taking adverse action against an employee.

At a rally on Monday, dozens of community organizations will join with the workers to announce a boycott of the Woodfin Suites. Boycott endorsers include the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the Wellstone Democrats, the East Bay Gray Panthers, and the East Bay Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice.

The workers will also seek an injunction to stop the retaliatory firings. A hearing is scheduled on Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court.

“What will we tell our children when they have no presents to open on Christmas?,” said Alma Cruz, a Woodfin housekeeper. “We’re worried about feeding our families, but we will not give up. The hotel thinks they can intimidate us because we are immigrants, but we will keep fighting for our rights.”

http://www.workingeastbay.org/article.php?id=203