I Love At-Will Employment
Eric | April 12, 2006So some women were fired from a meat packing plant for skipping work to protest pending immigration legislation. This gives them a valuable lesson in at-will employment. If the don’t like it, they can move to France.
A manager at a Detroit meatpacking plant said Monday that 15 immigrant women were fired last month after attending a protest for immigrant rights. He said they had been told that they would be terminated if they missed work on the day of the protest.
“It was not fair,’” said Mercedes, a 31-year-old Detroit woman who attended the rally and was fired. “We went to fight for our rights.” Mercedes is undocumented and asked that her last name not be used.
This incident raises an interesting point: if all these “undocumented” workers are demonstrating, why doesnt the INS go round them up and ship them off?
Aside
As a child of immigrants, I feel that these people do nothing but further their own enslavement. Sure, they get paid, but how high can they climb up the economic ladder? Real wealth comes from education, hard work and a mastry of the English language. While my ancestors did not speak english when they came to this country, they worked hard to learn. They also educated themselves and worked just as hard at their jobs. The result: fulfillment of the American dream. I challenge my readers to show me a success story that happens without any of these things.
My great- grandparents and grandparents on both sides emigrated from the Netherlands and Germany respectively. They came to the US to find jobs or to escape a dangerous political situation. None of them spoke English. They also came legally, and did not expect life to be easy for them. They worked hard, learned English and took pride in their new lives. I never saw any of my relatives waving another country’s flag, or expecting handouts from the Government. They became successful people on their own merit. With the current situation I see the reverse. What part of “illegal” don’t we understand? What about those who have come here legally and worked hard to make a better life for their families? What a slap in the face to them.