Back in February, thousands of immigrant workers in the United States participated in the “Day Without Immigrants” rally, protesting President Trump’s policies on immigration. Some even skipped work without letting their bosses know. Detroit area auto parts maker, EZ Industrial Solutions LLC, fired more than 20 immigrants after their participation in the protest. Now, these former employees of the auto parts maker are claiming they were wrongfully terminated, even though they received a warning from management about repercussions for missing work without permission.
They’re now taking their case to federal labor regulators.
In the complaint, the immigrant workers allege that, “The employer coercively questioned employees” twice regarding their plans to attend the rallies. The company has defended its actions by stating that employees are aware of rules against participating in political protests that aren’t work related during their work day.
Employment is easily the highest priority in almost every worker’s life. These immigrant workers were hired to do a job and failed to perform their duties by violating company policy. I’m not sure exactly how large the company is, but I’m willing to go out on a limb and assume that 20-plus workers skipping work in one day would create hardship. I know the rallies were planned with plenty of time in advance and these workers had the opportunity to put in for time off. Although it is important to realize that it should have been a safe bet for these employees that missing work for political protests would likely be frowned upon if the employer actually mentioned the rallies specifically.
Read the rest of the piece at OpsLens.
Angelina Newsom is an OpsLens Contributor and U.S. Army Veteran.
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