Thread: CA: Target workers in Walnut Creek quit after questions abou

More details emerge on Target's probe of immigrant workers
By Matt O'Brien
Contra Costa Times
Posted: 12/16/2009 05:29:32 PM PST
Updated: 12/16/2009 07:16:12 PM PST

WALNUT CREEK — Almost a month after an internal probe pushed 50 immigrant workers out of their jobs at a downtown Target store, interviews with former and current store employees portray a mass firing that was selective, planned in advance and confusing to many of those forced out.

Sparked by an allegation that illegal immigrants worked on the night shift, the Walnut Creek store last month attracted the attention of the Minneapolis corporate headquarters of the 1,700-store chain. The company sent a team to investigate, according to several people close to the incident.

By the end of the second week of November, 50 Latino employees — at least half of whom say they were given no warning of what was coming — were out of their jobs. It was not a layoff, Target said last week.

Nor did the 50 employees quit, said Rocio Avila of the San Francisco-based legal advocacy group La Raza Centro Legal, which has intervened on their behalf.

But whether the Latino workers were fired, or were otherwise compelled to leave on their own because they did not have the proper documents, remains a point of contention. Target says the store questioned some workers in mid-November about their eligibility to work in the United States, prompting most of those workers to voluntarily resign. It will not say any more than that.

"At this time we are in close communication with La Raza, but because the situation involves confidential personnel matters, Target is simply not in a position to discuss these matters publicly in any more detail at this time," spokeswoman Kate Gillen said in a written statement.

The dispute comes as the Obama administration has promised to crack down on employers who hire illegal labor by inspecting their work records and threatening them with fines.

More than 20 of the employees who lost their jobs met Friday night at a Concord home to explain to lawyers what happened to them. They spoke to a reporter on the condition of anonymity.

"I had benefits. I had my work permit," said one Bay Point resident who worked at the store for several years. "I hoped to work there for a long time."

The 39-year-old woman said she tried to comply with the store's request for more documentation, but her situation is complicated because she has a pending case with the government concerning an expired work permit.

When she was called to a meeting, she asked for more time to get her records straightened out.

"He told me I don't have more time," she said. "He said this was my last chance. ... He gave me my check."

The check included cash, she said, for personal and vacation time she was owed.

Target has said its probe was an I-9 compliance check. The I-9 form is what all employees must fill out when they are hired to verify their ability to work in the United States.

When completing the I-9, workers must show documents such as a Social Security card that proves they are eligible to work.

About a third of the workers who lost their jobs "were asked to meet with Target HR folks, maybe two weeks before the termination," said Avila, of La Raza Centro Legal. "They were asked to show documentation. None of those individuals were given the actual I-9 form to fill out."

Experts say a shift in federal policy may be behind Target's move.

"The reason Target is doing this internal thing is they're afraid to get embarrassed by the Obama administration," said labor historian Nelson Lichtenstein of UC Santa Barbara, who researches Wal-Mart and other retail giants.

Lichtenstein said those concerns about image can conflict with the practicalities of hiring labor in California, where it is sometimes easier to turn a blind eye to workers who may or may not have the proper documentation.

"The store manager is responsible for keeping labor costs down in his store," he said. "If he doesn't, he'll get fired."

Advocates for low-income Latinos, such as La Raza Centro Legal, worry that nervous employers are going to copy the actions of the national chain, potentially leading to discrimination against Latino workers around the state and country.

Other local observers have celebrated Target's actions as a move in the right direction and a sign that more employers will take illegal immigration more seriously.

"It's a misconception that illegals are doing jobs that Americans don't want. These jobs at Target are very much jobs that Americans do want," said Yeh Ling-Ling of the Oakland-based Alliance for a Sustainable U.S.A., which seeks to halt illegal immigration.

Ling-Ling, an Orinda resident who sometimes shops at the Walnut Creek Target, said the news about the illegal workers hit close to home and she hopes it does the same for others.

"Hopefully what's happening at Target will wake up Americans," she said. "Employers have the obligation to check workers' immigration status. They have the duty to do that. And also being good citizens, we have to give our priority to those who are here legally first."

www.contracostatimes.com

I'm wondering why there hasn't been a follow up story about Americans applying for those jobs?