The school of hard knocks and reality hits snowflakes hard after skipping work for immigration protests.
Back in February, thousands of immigrant workers in the United States participated in the “Day Without Immigrants” rally, protesting President Donald Trump’s policies on immigration. Some even skipped work without letting their bosses know. Detroit area auto parts maker, EZ Industrial Solutions LLC fired more than 20 immigrants after their participation in the protest. Now, these former employees of the auto parts maker are claiming they were wrongfully terminated, even though they received a warning from management about repercussions for missing work without permission. They’re now taking their case to federal labor regulators.
In the complaint, the immigrant workers allege that, “The employer coercively questioned employees” twice regarding their plans to attend the rallies. The company has defended its actions by stating that employees are aware of rules against participating in political protests that aren’t work related during their work day.
Employment is easily the highest priority in almost every worker’s life. These immigrant workers were hired to do a job and failed to perform their duties by violating company policy. I’m not sure exactly how large the company is, but I’m willing to go out on a limb and assume that 20 plus workers skipping work in one day would create hardship. I know the rallies were planned with plenty of time in advance and these workers had the opportunity to put in for time off. Although it is important to realize that it should have been a safe bet for these employees that missing work for political protests would likely be frowned upon if the employer actually mentioned the rallies specifically.
Rather than seek employment elsewhere, these individuals now seek to bring national attention to their mistakes. Of course, they want to create anti-Trump narrative to add strife to an already tumultuous political climate. However, that rhetoric doesn’t apply in this situation. Pushing boundaries and violating company policy should be met with consequences at the discretion of employers. The whining nature of the allegations reeks of entitlement. These workers paint themselves to be victims when they likely cost their employer money and fellow employees more work.
Now, these immigrant workers want the week-long suspension they claim to have been threatened with for skipping work. Clearly, by deciding to partake in activities that came with consequences — of which they were made fully aware — these workers have placed little value on their jobs. Choosing to defy employers by skipping work and anticipating punishment shows acknowledgement of wrongdoing.
These workers make the comparison that protesting is equal to simply missing work. Their lawyer believes that workers shouldn’t be punished for not calling in. Everyone knows certain circumstances arise that cause workers to call out, miss work, make no contact, etc. Employers exercise discretion in handling these incidents in a case-by-case basis. It’s hardly fair to compare using work time to participate in political protests to routine absences. It also isn’t realistic to anticipate returning to work as though nothing happened. I’m pretty sure there are many immigrants who are unemployed that wouldn’t take the job as lightly as these workers did.
