Protesters seek paychecks from Howard
Family members want the money owed to their relatives
Emma James • ecjames@hattiesburgamerican.com • August 30, 2008

LAUREL - Five women sat in a row in the grass next to the chain link fence that surrounds the Howard Industries plant in Laurel, talking quietly in Spanish.

While soft-spoken, the women were determined to get what they came for.

They were among 75 men, women and children led by the Mississippi Immigrants' Rights Alliance that gathered Friday outside Howard Industries to protest not receiving checks owed to their relatives detained in Jena, La.

Howard Industries made national headlines Monday when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents raided its operations in Laurel and Ellisville and detained 595 suspected illegal workers.

Many of the 100 detainees eligible for "alternative detention" - house arrest with ankle monitors - attended Friday's protest and said they had a right to the money they had earned working at the plant.

"Our only crime was to come here to work," one woman who wore an ankle monitor said through a translator. She refused to be identified.

"We are begging the owner to have a heart. We have to feed our children and pay our bills. All we want is what we earned."

Friday marked Day 2 of the picket, said Vicky Cintra, organization coordinator for MIRA.

Howard Industries on Thursday released some checks to workers with company badges or other proof that they or their family worked there prior to Monday's raid.

Cintra said company officials told the others to return Friday morning.

But when they arrived, signs were posted saying that Howard Industries refused to distribute any more checks, regardless of whether the workers had appropriate documentation.

Efforts to get a comment from Howard Industries were unsuccessful.

When the Hattiesburg American called the company around 4:45 p.m., Denise Wade, secretary to company President Michael Howard, said there were no picketers at the plant. But the picketers showed up at the plant around 4:30 p.m.

"I spoke to Michael Howard's secretary yesterday and she refused to put me through to him," said Cintra. "I told her to tell him two things. First, we're going to picket and then, they'll be facing additional audits from the Department of Labor and the IRS."

Cintra said MIRA plans to lead pickets until Howard Industries releases the checks to the former employees.

Although fear has gripped the Laurel Hispanic community since the raid, one woman said that the protest was necessary.

"We are afraid, but we have to do this for our children," she said through a translator.

Several of the women expressed anger over the way Howard Industries has reacted to the raid and its aftermath.

"I worked there for three years," said one woman through a translator. "Then they threw us away like old, rusty iron."
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