Hispanic Workers in North Carolina Face Dismissal Over Social Security Number Discrepancies
Social Security Administration not responsible for illegal immigration enforcement.


CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA -- A poultry plant in North Carolina threatened to fire some 100 Hispanic workers before the end of the year if they don't resolve the apparent discrepancies with their Social Security numbers.

Case Farms, located in Morganton to the east of Raleigh, sent a message to these workers at the end of October informing them that they must correct the error or "face dismissal."

For Francisco Risso, director of the Western North Carolina Workers Center, the company's action "is unjust" and is seeking "to replace this work force with a younger one."

"They want to fire people who have five to 10 years working there so as not to pay benefits and also to fire those who have fought for better conditions in the workplace," Risso told Efe on Tuesday.

Risso said that his organizatiton, in collaboration with nine others around the state, sent a letter to the company management recalling the they may not use what are known as "no match" letters as an excuse for firing the workers.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security sends no-match letters to employers when the Social Security numbers submitted by employees do not correspond to the relevant federal records.

The firms then have a period of 90 days to either correct whatever typographical or administrative errors there may be on the documents or fire the employees in question.

"Social Security does not enforce immigration laws and federal statutes forbid asking the employee to re-establish his right to work after providing the correct documentation at the time of being hired," said the letter sent by the Workers Center and other groups.
Case Farms processes 1.6 million chickens per week in its four plants, three in North Carolina and another in Ohio, and has more than 2,000 employees, according to the company's Web site.

Risso said that Morganton's Hispanic community, which depends largely on work at the plant, is particularly concerned at a time when jobs are scarce in the state due to the national economic crisis.

Several times the poultry processor has been accused by workers of not providing safe working conditions and of forcing them to speed up production lines.

"We have met several times with the management and the news is not very heartening. The situation is critical and we hope that we'll soon reach an agreement," said Risso, who did not say what prompted Homeland Security to review the employee data in the first place
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?Article ... ryId=12395