Employers brace for immigration protest May 1
By Andrew F. Hamm
SILICON VALLEY/SAN JOSE BUSINESS JOURNAL
Updated: 8:00 p.m. ET April 30, 2006

To work or not to work? Close shop or keep the doors open?

The conflicting goals and even the name of the May 1 rally, "Immigration Reform March" -- known informally by some as "A Day Without Immigrants Boycott" -- has some Silicon Valley employers concerned. Will their foreign-born employees show up for work May 1? And what should employers do about it if workers don't?

While organizers of San Jose's rally, including the Catholic Church's Diocese of San Jose, are urging students to attend class and workers to stay on the job if they can't arrange time off, some Hispanic-rights organizations, including the Mexican-American Political Association, are calling for people to either walk off their jobs or simply not report to work on May 1. Their idea is to demonstrate the economic impact of the immigrant work force.

The contrasting messages are worrying industries which traditionally employ immigrants -- including hotels, restaurants, landscaping and construction companies.

"If people simply walked off the job, these industries would be paralyzed," says Colin Johnson, a San Jose State professor and former chairman of that school's Hospitality Department. "The back staff of hotels and restaurants -- the people you don't see -- are almost all Hispanics."

The San Jose march is scheduled for 4 p.m. May 1 at King and Story roads and is expected to proceed to the Guadeloupe Gardens for a rally. The march's stated goal is support of immigration reform, including developing a way for the estimated 12 million illegal aliens already in the United States to gain citizenship. The organizers are also

protesting a plan to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border and another that would make it a federal felony to aid an illegal alien.

Employers have been consulting attorneys, conferring with unions and contacting industry organizations on how to deal with employees who don't show up or walk off the job, says Kim Parker, executive vice president for the California Association of Employers.

"We are urging employers to be pro-active and talk to their employees," Ms. Parker says. "However, we are advising them to handle (absentees) as any other missed-time situation, as policy. It is the safest way."

Several Hispanic-owned businesses are avoiding the whole situation and are simply closing down May 1. That includes virtually the entire 85-store Tropicana Shopping Center in East San Jose.

"We are supporting our co-nationals, our brothers," says Jose Mendoza, owner of the San Jose Men's Wear shop in the Tropicana Shopping Center.

The Marquez Bros., a large San Jose-based cheese and Mexican San Jose food concern, is one of several businesses catering to the Hispanic community that are either closing or trying to otherwise show support for the event. The 45-store Hispanic entertainment center, Ritmo Latino, announced April 26 that all its stores will close May 1. More than 200 Hispanic supermarkets in California and Texas are also closing for the day, says Steven Soto, president & CEO of the Mexican-American Grocers Association.

"They want to stand side-by-side with our consumers," Mr. Soto says. "We are losing money -- and our employees will lose a day of pay -- but we think there is a bigger issue at play here."

However, some Hispanic-owned businesses are torn between their civic interests and their own business interests, says Victor Garza Sr., chairman of the La Raza Roundtable, a business, social and political issues organization.

"I don't hold it against anybody who keeps his doors open -- or doesn't," Mr. Garza says. "It's up to the conscience of the individual. Hey, we all have to make a buck."

Virtually all Silicon Valley hotels and most restaurants will be staying open May 1. But since industry estimates place the number of Hispanics in these industries as high as 80 percent, there are concerns about tensions if employee requests for time off aren't granted.

The San Francisco-based Joie de Vivre Hospitality hotel chain, which includes the Cyprus Hotel in Cupertino, is asking employees to make prior arrangements if they want to attend the May 1 rally.

Most local unions are urging their members to either arrange for time off or show up for work as scheduled.

"Our concern is that if you just walk off your job, you'll find yourself down at the union office trying to get your job back," says Ron Lind, a union representative for United Food and Commercial Workers Local 428.

Immigration reform marches in Northern California have been peaceful, with strollers and balloons vying for space with political signs and Mexican flags. Marches elsewhere, including Phoenix and Los Angeles, have been more strident. San Jose march organizers are expecting as many as 50,000 people to attend.

"We are asking everybody to come in peace. Peace is better. We can accomplish more being peaceful," Mr. Mendoza says.

© 2006 MSNBC.com

URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/12571907/