Employees Fired For Participating In Immigrant Protest

Employees across the country were fired from their jobs for participating in the Feb. 16 “A Day Without Immigrants” strike.

Eighteen employees at Bradley Coatings in Nolensville, Tennessee, were fired after taking the day off in solidarity with other protestors, WCMH reports.

“We are the team leaders directly under the supervisors, and they informed us last night that we could not go back to work and the boss said we were fired,” one employee, who asked to remain anonymous, said. The employee added that the workers who went to the march had planned to work on Sunday to make up for the missed day of work.

“I would tell him that he was unfair, after working for them for so many years,” the employee said of his boss.

Bradley Coatings, a commercial painting services company, issued a statement regarding the termination of its employees through its attorney, Robert Peal. He wrote that the employees were told that they would be terminated if they did not show up for work.

“The majority of BCI’s employees fulfilled their obligations to our clients, but eighteen employees did not. Regretfully, and consistent with its prior communication to all its employees, BCI had no choice but to terminate these individuals. The reason these employees missed work — to engage in peaceful demonstrations — had nothing to do with BCI’s decision to terminate them,” Peal wrote.

A similar story played out in Commerce City, Colorado. Jim Serowski, founder of JVS Masonry, was aware that his employees were going to miss work, and told CNN they knew the consequences. He fired his foreman and 30 bricklayers.

“If you’re going to stand up for what you believe in, you have to be willing to pay the price,” he said, adding that he has no regrets.

Serowski, the grandson of immigrants from Poland, said that his decision was not politically motivated and that he took his employees’ decision to miss work as a slap in the face.

“It’s about work ethic,” he said. “They were warned: ‘If you do this, you’re hurting the company, and if you go against the team, you’re not a member of the team.'”

“I’ve gone above and beyond for these people,” Serowski said. “No one is going to dictate how my company is run.”

One of Serowski’s previous employees told KDVR he participated in the protest because “the guys that we have out here that have families that are afraid to go out and get a gallon of milk, get gas, going to get groceries in case they get stopped and deported.”

Serowski said that the workers can have their jobs back, if they ask.

According to CNN, other companies that fired employees for participating in the protest included Encore Boat Builders in Lexington, South Carolina, where 21 people were let go, and the I Don’t Care Bar and Grill in Catoosa, Oklahoma, where 12 line cooks lost their jobs.

Sources: WCMH, CNN, KDVR / Photo credit: Ted Eytan/Flickr