I wonder if any of these worker know what happened when the unions said "He can't fire us all" when Regean said that if the Air Traffic Controllers went on strike, they would be fired.
They did, and he did.
If I had a business I would put up a sign that if the failed to show up for work, they would be fired. Then for a least a week before the walkout date, interview replacements.
If they walk out, have the replacements walk in.
Strength of planned immigrant work boycott called into question
http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=4760475 A Hispanic advocacy group said Tuesday that it plans to go ahead with a call for immigrants to boycott work and school on May 1 to draw attention to the need for an overhaul of the country's immigration laws.
But one of the organizers of a massive immigration march in Phoenix on Monday said the boycott is generating little interest from other advocacy groups.
"Everyone else frankly is quite tepid about it," said Alfredo Gutierrez, a former Democratic state senator and an organizer of the 100,000-person march.
Gutierrez said march participants are tired and have to return to work. "We aren't talking about people with great disposable incomes," Gutierrez said.
Elias Bermudez, president of Immigrants Without Borders, which is leading the boycott, said he believes other Hispanic advocates will support the effort, but his organization will go it alone if necessary.
"If they sign on with us, beautiful," Bermudez said. "If they don't, it's also beautiful."
Similar events are planned in other states on May 1.
A boycott organized nearly a year ago by Bermudez affected a few businesses in metropolitan Phoenix, including restaurants that either shut down or offered limited fare because of staff shortages. It wasn't clear how many business were involved.
But this Monday's demonstration in Phoenix had a significant impact on Arizona's restaurant and construction businesses, though industry officials said they had no estimates on the number of people who skipped work.
One contractor with a staff of 34 only had three employees report to work. No-shows prompted another contractor to call it a day at 10 a.m., said David Jones, president of the Arizona Contractors.
While employee absences didn't devastate restaurants, it prompted some eateries to close their doors for the day, said Steve Chucri, president of the Arizona Restaurant and Hospitality Association.
"It really wasn't a day of prosperity on the restaurant front," Chucri said.
Arturo Condreras, a Mexican immigrant who works for a landscaping business, said he and roughly 60 other immigrants skipped work to take part in the march, a decision that his boss didn't welcome.
"He called me, 'You know what? I don't agree,'" Condreras said. "And I said, 'You know, it's too bad. There's nothing you can do.'"
The march, however, didn't cause staffing problems for all businesses.
Macayo Restaurants, which operates 13 locations in metropolitan Phoenix, reported a handful of absences. Some workers marched in the rally and made it to work in time for their shifts during the dinner hours, said Bob Neckes, the company's human resources director.
"I think that the way that a lot of our staff viewed this is if they don't show up for work, they are not going to hurt some big politician in the sky," Neckes said. "They are going to hurt Vicente, their kitchen manager."
None of the 1,300 employees at the Phoenician resort in Scottsdale skipped work to attend the demonstration, said Valerie Poulos, the resort's spokeswoman.
J.J. Garcia Sr., who was involved in organizing the march, predicted many advocacy groups would take part in the May 1 boycott.
Like Monday's march, a boycott would show the strength of the illegal-immigrant rights movement and could lead to favorable changes for illegal immigrants.
"We have to keep this effort going, keep the pressure up," Garcia said.
