The Mexicans are going on strike on May 1st

[Jay]

Hey I heard no Mexicans are working May 1st for some reason. Anyone care to elaborate? Who's gonna run our food court and landscaping? Go to the taqueria's now while you still can.

[Phlegm]

The Mexicans in the US or in Mexico?

[Jay]

In the US. I dunno about everywhere in the US, but I know it's happening here in CA.

[Phlegm]

"A Day Without Immigrants". From CNN:

(CNN) -- Meatpacking plants will shut down. Markets won't open. Trucks won't roll. Students will walk out of school. Millions of people will take to America's streets in possibly unprecedented numbers.

If all goes as organizers plan, major American cities will be disrupted Monday by what's being called "The Great May 1st Boycott," or "A Day Without an Immigrant."

"Millions of workers, men and women without documents and their supporters who are, in fact, legal United States citizens will heed the call to not go to work," said Juan Jose Gutierrez, national coordinator of Latino Movement USA and one of the lead organizers of Monday's planned boycott.

"Many hundreds of thousands of students, perhaps millions, will stay away from school and people will not shop and will not sell anything," Gutierrez said.

Boycott organizers are demanding amnesty and the chance for the estimated 11 million to 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States to earn citizenship. Gutierrez compares their struggle with that of American colonists against British rule more than 200 years ago.

"The great slogan of the American Revolution was 'No Taxation Without Representation,'" he said. "Millions of human beings today and for many years are being taxed, and they have absolutely no representation. In fact, they are being bashed every day and humiliated."

Monday's proposed boycott and marches are finding support in the streets, in the churches, in the boardrooms and even in some corridors of government.

Jorge Reyes, 49, came to this country as an illegal immigrant from Vera Cruz, Mexico. He's now a citizen with his own printing business in Pomona, California. He has put up $3,000 of his own money to promote Monday's marches, he told CNN's Thelma Gutierrez.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago is urging parishioners to participate in Monday's events, providing links to a Grant Park rally on its Web site.

"On March 10, in Chicago, 100,000 people marched for justice; on May 1, we want to double or triple that number. We will march for human dignity, for new laws that recognize the valuable contribution of immigrants to our nation and communities," the Rev. Charles Dahm wrote in an article posted on the Web site.

Smithfield Foods of Virginia said Thursday it will take time Monday to help employees write to U.S. senators and representatives with demands for changes in immigration law, including "a path to citizenship for those who are willing to work," according to a company press release.

Tyson Foods will shut meatpacking plants on Monday, citing market conditions and a possible shortage of workers. Meatpacker Cargill Meat Solutions will give 15,000 workers the day off so they can participate, The Associated Press reported.

In Los Angeles, the 7th Street produce market, which supplies thousands of Southern California restaurants and markets, will not do business on Monday. "We will not work on May 1st. We will not sell any vegetables or fruits," said Pedro Astorga of the 7th Street Market Merchants Association.

In California's capital of Sacramento, state senators voted Thursday in favor of a resolution supporting Monday's marches and boycott. Passage was strictly partisan, with Democrats prevailing 24-13.

Monday rallies are planned for Poughkeepsie, New York, to Portland, Oregon, and from Stamford, Connecticut, to the San Diego-Tijuana border crossing, according to the Web site, http://www.infoshop.org.

Although some are saying Monday could be the largest day of protest since the Vietnam War, support for "A Day Without an Immigrant" is far from universal.

Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Los Angeles doesn't support any walkouts or work stoppages on Monday, though he is an ardent supporter of immigration reform.

"I believe that we can make May 1 a 'win-win' day here in Southern California," Mahony wrote in a statement. "Go to work, go to school, and then join thousands of us at a major rally afterwards."

Some in the immigrant community worry walkouts could give the wrong impression. If students miss school, it "just adds fuel to the argument that we don't care about our children's education," Jose Lagos of Honduran Unity in Miami, Florida, told AP.

The Minuteman Project -- which has organized citizens' patrols along the Mexican border to monitor illegal immigration -- says illegal immigrants cost Americans jobs, and that blacks in the inner cities are hurt most. It plans rallies across the country, beginning Wednesday in Los Angeles, to highlight its view.

Still, more than three-quarters of Americans favor allowing illegal immigrants who have spent many years in the United States to apply for citizenship, according to a poll conducted for CNN by Opinion Research Corp.

In the poll, released Tuesday, 77 percent of those responding favored allowing illegal immigrants who have been in United States for more than five years to stay and apply for citizenship if they have a job, and pay a fine and back taxes. Twenty percent said they opposed such a measure.

Washington, meanwhile, is struggling with immigration legislation. On Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee and Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada met with President Bush and said afterward they were confident immigration legislation could pass their chamber by Memorial Day.

The Senate bill would include provisions for improved border security, a guest-worker program and options for citizenship. If a Senate compromise is reached, it would still need to make it through the House, where the going could be more difficult.

Boycott supporters won't be waiting.

"Let's show the government, corporations and racist politicians that a powerful, united people's movement has the power to win civil rights, workers' rights and make history," ANSWER, a coalition civil rights groups says on its Web site. "No business as usual on May 1!"

[Narrock]

I love how they play the race card, when race has 0% to do with the illegal immigration issue. More leftist spin.

[Sorina S]

They do this kinda shit twice a month in France. What Im wonderin is whos really instigating this? Illegal immigrants by definition operate outside the law and under the radar. How the hell are the sponsors of this strike getting these folk to put themselves dead on into the crosshairs of the INS?

This makes no sense to me. Its a bite the hand that feeds you tactic. This is bullshit, these are the folk that work for shit wages in shit jobs that up until VERY recently we all turned a blind eye towards. Suddenly theyre gonna call a general strike? Gimme a fuckin break.

Whats next? Crack dealers in NYC get a parade permit and march down 7th ave to garner support for the legalization of cocaine?

I smell a rat.

[araby]

I thought I was going to have to deny my own citizenship for the few moments I waited to hear what the president's reply was to "Should the National Anthem be sung in English or Spanish?"

thankfully, he said, "I think the National Anthem should be sung in English"



and all of this, really really pisses me off. this, is the link to the flyer http://www.infoshop.org/inews/article.php?story=20060413091242747

what the fuck.

"workers of the world unite" We do!! every day!! there is no "remind your bosses who is in charge." if you don't show up to work, you lose your job! then who's in charge?? I go to work every single day thinking about how grateful I am to have a job, to have someone to give me a job that pays well and allows me to support myself and child. You don't WALK OUT on a job to get someone to appreciate you. this flyer is bullshit, so is this "may day" and if I see anyone Monday not working because they're on strike I'm going to call them lazy, ungrateful, and stupid right to their fucking face and hope they do something about it. I'm just a redneck from sumter but I'll be damned if this isn't the biggest load of horseshit I've ever seen. Our government has to REALLY give a shit about their citizens and protect us instead of just SAYING that they do.

[Sorina S]

Exactly Araby. Who the fuck is ressurecting socialism on a mass scale? And on May Day? I'm blown away at the arrogance of this. Are we so dumbed down that we don't see what is happening here? Are we so stupid and ignorant of history that we don't recognise the bullshit symbolism being attached to this?

The plight of migrant workers is well known, has been since the 50s at least. Why now and why in this dramatic way is it being shoved in our faces? You know these are folks that we work with everyday, at least I do. Good people, hard workers. They load and unload my trucks. They are everywhere in our factories, on the docks, in the landfills...and beyond. Why now, why them?

The answer to ilegal immigration is easy, dont hire em. Yep it's that simple. We hired em, we created this. Time to put the blame where it really lies, and take resposibility.

[Jay]

I have 3 Mexican interns at my workplace. They all plan on not showing up to work this day. I told em they'd be written up with my personal recomendation to be fired. They were like "wtf!?". Guess what kids, one of the prerequisites of civil disobedience is being accepting of it's consequences. Martin Luther King did time for his beliefs. If you really believe in this march on May 1st, then you'll get fired over it.

[Narrock]

I have 3 Mexican interns at my workplace. They all plan on not showing up to work this day. I told em they'd be written up with my personal recomendation to be fired. They were like "wtf!?". Guess what kids, one of the prerequisites of civil disobedience is being accepting of it's consequences. Martin Luther King did time for his beliefs. If you really believe in this march on May 1st, then you'll get fired over it.

Excellent point.

[Sorina S]

Well Jay, let the chips fall where they may. You say your interns are 'Mexican'? The have work visa? Or are the actually American citizens? Or are they, illegal workers?

So you'll give your personal reccomendation that they be sacked if they participate in the general strike. heh, such a puppet, such a pawn. Good for you, stand up for Ole Glory, can't let these immigrants get the better of us. How much did you say these workers make? How long have they worked for your company? Who will you replace them with? How much will it cost you to train the replacements? How will you sleep at night? I admire you Jay, you're a real American.

SS~

[Jay]

Well Jay, let the chips fall where they may. You say your interns are 'Mexican'? The have work visa? Or are the actually American citizens? Or are they, illegal workers?

So you'll give your personal reccomendation that they be sacked if they participate in the general strike. heh, such a puppet, such a pawn. Good for you, stand up for Ole Glory, can't let these immigrants get the better of us. How much did you say these workers make? How long have they worked for your company? Who will you replace them with? How much will it cost you to train the replacements? How will you sleep at night? I admire you Jay, you're a real American.

SS~

They are legal citizens and college students working to get me or people in my department to sign a paper saying that we like them. It won't cost me much to train people to copy shit, run mail, staple things and get me my coffee. Everyone who is participating in this general strike is walking out on their jobs and companies for one day. That will cost their businesses money no matter what. If they're willing to walk out on me and mine for something they believe in (or in these kids case, they probably are thinking "free day off") then they are telling me they will accept the consequences of a no call no show. They are here for their benefit, not mine. I can hire a monkey to replace them. How will I sleep at night? I will sleep rest assured that I did what is necessary to protect my company and my business from people who are so willing to walk out on it. Fuck glory and fuck this protest on both sides. I only care about number one which is myself and my company.

[Sorina S]

Fair enough

[Gaazy]

If it were my company and someone missed a day and cost me time and money over something fucking stupid like this, id fire the fucker too. I dont care if they were mexican, white, black, or fucking Mongolian, I would fire them.

[araby]

absolutely! I hope that many more will have the balls to doing what you're doing. If it were me, I'd let my business go down if I had to, for what is right. I am not a martyr, but I have a work ethic that beats none other...and I will stand up for that. like I said...redneck from sumter...

[Phlegm]

The answer to ilegal immigration is easy, dont hire em. Yep it's that simple. We hired em, we created this. Time to put the blame where it really lies, and take resposibility.

The Number 1 employer of immigrants laborers is not businesses but homeowners. From Associated Press:

BURBANK, California (AP) -- Chris James needed help moving a piano and three dozen boxes of records from his music studio, but instead of corralling some buddies he rented a truck and hired day laborers outside the local Home Depot.

The two Guatemalan men finished the job in an hour and a half, hauling a piano and wedging a sofa into his condo, then stacking the boxes in a back room, for less than $40.

It was first time James hired day laborers but it won't be his last.

"Absolutely satisfied," said James, 31.

The No. 1 employers of day laborers, many of whom are illegal immigrants, are homeowners -- not construction contractors, not professional landscapers.

"Day labor is not a niche market," said Abel Valenzuela, a UCLA professor and one of three authors of the first national day labor study, which was released in January. "It's now entering different aspects of the national mainstream economy."

Forty-nine percent of day labor employers are homeowners, according to 2,660 laborers interviewed for the study. Contractors were second, at 43 percent. The study also found that three quarters of day laborers were illegal immigrants and most were from Latin America.

Homeowners like the men who call themselves "jornaleros" because they make up a flexible labor pool with no red tape and no overhead. And they'll do backbreaking jobs much cheaper than regular contractors.

Day laborers like homeowners, too. Shady contractors routinely stiff them. Not homeowners -- the workers know where they live.

"And in houses, they give us food, water and soda," said Herminio Velazquez, 48, one of the men who worked at James's condo.

While some homeowners are uncomfortable hiring people who likely have no work documents, they often don't believe they are doing wrong.

That position is rejected by anti-illegal immigration activists.

"They know they are hiring illegal aliens and breaking the law," said Joseph Turner, who is trying to force San Bernardino to outlaw taxpayer-funded day labor centers. "They are contributing to the illegal immigration problem."

Agents for Immigration and Customs Enforcement occasionally arrest day laborers, but they almost never go after homeowner employers. Their priorities are national security work sites such as seaports and the networks that smuggle illegal immigrants into the country.

"We need to stop unlawful employment," said agency spokeswoman Virginia Kice. "But working day laborers sites is not an efficient way to use finite resources."

The federal debate on immigration reform has been on either criminalizing illegal immigrants -- a proposal that has stirred widespread protest demonstrations -- or giving them temporary work visas that might eventually lead to citizenship. Though Senate leaders promise progress, legislation may not pass in this election year.

David Peters, a 37-year-old salesman, is bothered by illegal immigration and believes he's part of the problem, but he says it isn't always possible to hire people with work papers.

He hired day laborers over several months while remodeling his Hermosa Beach house. One man tiled a floor and installed a granite countertop for $1,000, jobs that Peters estimated would cost $5,000 if he used the Yellow Pages.

"I know if they didn't have a job, they wouldn't be here," said Peters. "But we all shop at Target and Wal-Mart, and all their stuff is made overseas with cheap labor."

Maxine Colby started hiring day laborers after her husband died six years ago because she needed somebody to clear brush, pull weeds, trim trees and wash windows. She pays them $11 an hour and serves them a hot lunch.

"They have been fantastic," said the 78-year-old Malibu resident. "I speak a little Spanish, and they speak a little English, and we have a good time."

She doesn't ask about immigration status or worry about breaking the law.

"This is a system that works for most people," she said. "If lawmakers can't figure out how to fix it, I certainly can't."

[Sorina S]

How much did the produce growers PAC pay the Ass Press to print that nonsense? heh...in any event what you quoted from me remains truthful.

[mofish]

Fire their asses.

You got something legit to protest? Strike away!

You wanna pull some dumbass shit like this? PINK SLIP.

[Sorina S]

Once again it begs the question, who is instigating this nonsense? Not only are these folks running the risk of being tagged by INS aka Homeland Security but from what I see here many of them stand to loose what shit jobs they have now.

I mean hell folks freedom of speech and assembly is all well and good as long as it doesn't cut into corporate productivity. This isn't France for christmas sakes.

SS~

[Minrott]

It has nothing to do with corporate productivity. If you're an illegal alien you have no right to assembly. You have the right to a trip back over the border, do not pass go, do not collect $200. You cannot come into a soveriegn nation, ignore their laws, then expect to parade down the fucking street making demands.

[WoWShaman]

I'm sorry but being an illegal alien in this country qualifies you for what rights?
Illegal immigrants do not have the right to protest, They do not have the right to free speech. All the rights of legal American citizen is not by definition available to illegal immigrants.

Doesn't matter what race you are, Even if you are from Canada living in the United States illegally the civil freedom's that they are enjoying are not protected for them, And they can be arrested for protesting and marching in such a fashion.

Don't compare scum like this to Martin Luther King, Or any other American Citizen.
Also do not even begin to refer to this as Taxation without representation, Illegal's get no representation because they DON'T PAY TAX'S.

Also if someone wants to say they pay Tax's on good's, They in no way pay 39% of their gross income every year to the government via state, federal, and social security.

If I had my way I'd be firing tear gas off into every one of these peaceful "protests," Oh and being that this state I live and work in, is an at will employer, if anyone does a no call no show on me, they wont have a good paying job anymore.

Peace.

[Thon]

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

look up unalienable sometime retards

[Harrison]

The fact is they don't belong here Thon.

If you can't get that through your dense field of stupidity, I would hardly be surprised.

[Thon]

the only dense thing here is your gut

The fact is they don't belong here Thon.

why? because they were born on the wrong side of an arbitrary demarcation on a map? the only people who support this shit are either racist or ignorant of what this country was founded on

considering you couldn't pass high school, i'm guessing you fall in the ranks of the ignorant.

[Lionking]

We already gave 'em Cinco de Mayo. Now they're not working on Uno de Mayo? Taking dos days in Mayo is blasphemy! It's time to deep seis their asses!

-Out