Queens bakery workers must show legal immigration status to stay employed

BY REUVEN BLAU GINGER ADAMS OTIS
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, March 22, 2017, 10:30 AM



Henry Rivera, 22, protests alongside his Tom Cat Bakery co-workers at the Wednesday demonstration.

(GO NAKAMURA/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
Workers at Tom Cat Bakery in Queens say they’ve gotten letters threatening to fire them in 10 days if they can’t prove they’re in the U.S. legally, the Daily News has learned.

The 30 staffers at the Long Island City bakery said the company blamed an audit being conducted by the Department of Homeland Security for the abrupt move.

“We’ve tried to ask the company what role DHS played in what’s happening, but we have no answers,” said Daniel Gross founder and executive director of Brandworkers, a not-for-profit organization protecting and advancing the rights of retail and food employees.

Workers at the bakery learned of the possible dismissals last Wednesday when they were told by a Tom Cat boss that they must produce proof they are in the country legally or be fired with no severance within 10 days.

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“I was surprised,” said Hector Solis, 45, who has worked at the bakery for 12 ½ years. “I never thought that was going to happen.”

The bakery apparently got an I-9 audit request from the Department of Homeland Security, according to the immigration activists.

The audit requires employers to identify their employees and to prove that they are eligible to work in the country.

Companies who fail to fill out the audit can be hit with fines. DHS can also notice agents at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement about undocumented workers.

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(GO NAKAMURA/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

Reps for ICE and DHS did not respond to a call and email seeking comment.

On Wednesday, Solis, and the other workers, declined to discuss their immigration status at the press conference outside the Tom Cat Bakery with community leaders and immigrant rights advocacy groups.

Solis came to America from Mexico City over 20 years ago and supports his wife and two children living in Brooklyn and his mother back home in Mexico.

At Tom Cat, he works the night shift baking different kinds of bread.

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“I’ve worked hard for them for many years,” he said.

The workers, who come from places like Guatemala and Peru, reached out to Brandworkers for help after they were contacted by management, Gross said.

Whatever their immigration status, the workers had decided to go public with their situation, Gross said.

Around 30 workers at Tom Cat Bakery in Queens say they received letters ordering them to prove they're in the U.S. legally.
(GO NAKAMURA/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

“This group is really prepared to stand up for itself,” Gross said. “The choice here is not to run and hide but to hit this head on and resist.”

Tom Cat Bakery worker Henry Rivera said he was shocked when he got his letter.

"I've been there 11 years and like so many of my co-workers I worked hard to help make the company a success — we wanted it to grow and do well," he said. Rivera declined to comment on his immigration status but said he and others were speaking up to defend workers' rights.

"At the end of the day, we're human beings right? We are trying to pay the rent and put some food on the table for our families. We were really surprised that the company has treated us like this — it's been a shock," Rivera said.

After the press conference, Rivera, who comes from Honduras, said he hoped their plight inspired other immigrants.

“We are organizing not just for Tom Cat workers but for workers in New York and the whole nation,” he said, “to encourage them to stand up unified and fight for justice.”

The bakery did not respond calls and emails seeking comment.

 http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.3005092