Thread: Latinos fired for leaving work early to attend rally

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/l ... rs13m.html

Thursday, April 13, 2006 - 12:00 AM

Latinos fired for leaving work early to attend rally

By Sanjay Bhatt
Seattle Times staff reporter

A Monroe-based home-painting contractor fired more than a quarter of its employees — all of them Latino — Tuesday morning, a day after the painters left work two hours early to attend Monday's immigration rally in downtown Seattle.

The company, Laitala Enterprises, and the fired workers agree on this much: That the workers told their foreman Monday morning of their desire to attend the rally, that they left early, and that their departure didn't delay the schedule of a painting job in a Fife subdivision.

But the two sides don't agree on facts critical to determining whether what the workers did amounted to insubordination and abandoning their jobs, as the company claimed in dismissing them. The company said 17 were fired; their union said 19.

All were among as many as 30,000 demonstrators in Seattle who joined rallies in other cities in calling on Congress to support citizenship and worker protections for those who arrived in the United States illegally.

The Seattle rally's chief organizer, Jorge Quiroga, said he's worried other Latino workers may be disciplined for having left their jobs to attend the march. Since he learned of the Laitala firings, Quiroga has asked Latino radio stations and advocates to tell him of any similar actions.

"Just because the owner doesn't agree with their cause, that's not a reason to fire somebody," Quiroga said.

Owner Terry Laitala said it's a simple case of workers breaking company rules.

"We weren't going to let 17 people leave early for basically no excused absence. We let people leave early if their family is sick," he said. "They didn't have a reason. I mean, they did, but none that fit into our policy."

In dispute is when the workers first notified the company of their intent to participate in the rally, and whether the foreman gave his permission.

The workers said that, in accordance with company policy, they first expressed interest two weeks before the Monday rally, and that the foreman said they could go.

The foreman, Jose Duran, said Wednesday that the first time he remembered the workers telling him they wanted to attend the rally was Monday morning.

Duran — who told the workers he wished he could attend the rally himself — said he neither encouraged nor discouraged their participation.

Both Laitala and Duran agree that the workers weren't warned what consequences they faced if they left work early.

Duran says he never imagined the company would fire them because "they are good workers." He assumed the painters would get a warning.

As for their legal status, Laitala said the company hires only workers who present proper documents. The workers themselves, though, said only some of them are here legally.

"These are good workers," Laitala said. "I wish they hadn't made the mistake" of leaving work early. Otherwise, "They'd still be here working."

The workers' union filed a grievance Wednesday after Laitala refused to reinstate them, said Jeff Kelley, an organizer for District Council No. 5 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades. That means the workers won't get their jobs back for several weeks, if ever.

Kelley said the union has asked the company for records of potential disciplinary action on the part of other employees to see whether Laitala has acted consistently.

From the union's Seattle office Wednesday afternoon, the dismissed workers said they drew all their income working for Laitala and some have worked for Laitala for more than a year. Even if they had known they would be fired for attending the rally, they said they still would have gone.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com

Aww they got fired for leaveing work early.. Hey maybe more employers should do the same. But be sure they can justify firing people for not finishing work and leaveing early. HHHmmm sounds like the employee has more rights then the company that they work for. Not in my small business. Right to work state. I can fire at any time for any reason. My company.

ONLY SOME of them are illegal...ummmm...16?? That would be reason to fire them.

MJ

Serves them right they think they can come to this country and do whatever they want whenever they want, well guess what "wrongo"

I got fired coz I refused to leave my children in a shelter while a catagory 5 hurricane sat off shore. Good ole K-Mart. They needed a trusted employee to be in the store overnight to watch the cleaning crew.

Crazy, if I had to choose between my job and my family I would have done the same thing. These people are walking off the job for a political agenda not a life threatening situation and they should have been fired. With regards to K-Mart putting their employees in that kind of danger is disgusting especially when they have insurance for those kinds of situations, hopefully you found another job with a more realistic employer that does not endanger its employees. K-Mart is going down the tubes anyway as they cannot compete with other stores so you can just watch