Arizona Employees fired after missing work to protest immigration law
 

Twelve employees of Pei Wei Asian Diner at 54th Street and Ray Road in Chandler were fired after they skipped work to participate in a May 29 protest of the new immigration law Senate Bill 1070.

That was nearly half the staff at that restaurant, which has a workforce of about 30, said Pei Wei spokesman Peter Marino.

The fired workers violated a well-established Pei Wei attendance policy, he said.

"When employees choose not to show up for a scheduled shift and choose not to give notice, it causes tremendous disruption to fellow co-workers and impedes our ability to serve our guests," the company said in a statement.

At the same time, Pei Wei said it respects the rights of people to peacefully protest, and it does not comment on local, state or federal laws.

Rest of the story here:
http://www.azcentral.com/community/c...n-protest.html



These people have some nerve and as far as I am concerned, they got what they deserved, but they seem to think they are special and now want their jobs back along with an apology from the establishment they ditched out on to participate in the BS protest? They are also calling for a boycott of PF Changs...
I say fuck them, they broke company policy and they got what they deserved, plain and simple.
Next they will want unemployment benefits and they should not get a dime.

I will have to go eat there when goodgirl comes out.

What did they expect?

You know what they expected.

12 employees fired - wow, that's a significantly big amount.

I was just talking with my wife and she said we need to hit PF Changs this weekend. I haven't had their food in a while. I love the wraps the serve...yummm

They obviously thought that they were exempt from any rules...go figure :disgust

To be honest, I am not a big fan. But I will take one for the team as a sign of solidarity.

I would have fired them too.

It is a bit pricey that is for sure. That is about the only reason I don't go there much, but we are going to do it in support of the business. I would much rather have a huge ass steak at Durants for the price ;)

yup! and now 160 will be rushing down to fill their 12 spots and won't miss work for BS like that.. With unemployment as bad as it is today why in the fuck would 12 people do something that stupid knowing others from their place were also ditching work for this?? :error

I'm calling the ACLU.

Never really paid attention to their cost, so guess it wasn't that bad. Just not my cup of tea, although I do seem to recall they had a pretty cool dessert that was a little bit of everything . . . or something like that.

I am sure they are already on the case.

seems like a lot of grey areas

I don't think the ACLU can help them under the circumstances.
They broke company policy, some of them asked for the day off and were denied, but instead of working they chose a different path for which they are now paying for.

Just because they are Mexican and chose to ignore the manager's decision to not let them have the day off doesn't make them a candidate for special treatment.

would you have let them attend the rally?

What grey areas are you speaking of?

If they are required to work, then no!

If they have the day off, it is their free time and they can do what they want.

if they requested the right to protest and were denied, right there, is something that on a legal and moral ground would be something of contention. (ie, personally, i'd want the respect of democratic right if i was going to protest something i believe in.. it's not like i protest everyday)

i also think if they were able to prove that people were missing work with different types of punishment, they'd be able to argue discrimination on racial and political grounds

Because they now can file for unemployment. Sad but True. Will they get it, who knows..

If the employer fights it, they won't get squat in Arizona and I am sure this business will be fighting it. I hope they get nothing.:winkwink:

this is where we start speculating on the details, and we get into grey areas :(

i'm just saying that it's a hot topic and definitely a publicity stunt in the end

exactly! I found this interesting and worth quoting for most of GFY that won't take the time to read the link

that is so stupid to think that they would reprimand 12 employees like they did with this one person. it's simple that with 12 people not calling in at a place that only employs 30 that they really hurt that place's biz.

Unfortunately, if you are scheduled to work and feel you want to attend any protest or whatever the excuse may be and you are told no, then you decide to do as you please....is not any grounds for screaming discrimination or any other BS that they may try to come up with because they are fired. Although they did ask, were told no and did as they pleased, they paid the price for their actions.

This is a right to work state so the laws are a bit different and an employer can get rid of you for just about any reason and there is nothing the employee can do about it. In this case, they broke company policy and were rightly fired for it.

These people pushed their agenda and it bit them in the ass.....

yea, i wasn't aware of the right to work aspect and obviously a personal 'grey area' lol

i dunno, i would personally want them to have the right to go protest, especially if they gave prior notice of said fact. That's what memorial day and all these statues are about

Yep, I believe anyone should have the right to protest peacefully, when they are NOT scheduled to work, don't have approved PTO, or sick days.

Right to work states are very different, as I am in one, and see the need for Unions. I do see how unions are bad in other places.. Right, Middle, Left --- LOL

No one will ever make everyone happy!

We all think of illegal immigrants as Mexicans. I wonder how many of them were here illegally?

So, the restaurant should close up because they had something better to do? Hey, if you believe in it that much that you are willing to risk your job, do not be surprised when you are without work . . . especially in a right to work state. I forgot about that.

If any were here illegally, then Pie Wei would be inspected by Sheriff Joe.
You bring up a very good point and I would not doubt it if this question does come to light as this case grows and if it shows that some, in fact were illegal immigrants, then the establishment will pay with a simple warning first time.

that's where this is hard to argue.. they were scheduled to work and that's the bottom line.. on the other hand, these aren't essential staff we're talking about

honestly 'right to work' is new to me so i'll have to read about that, but i agree with you on the context that they had an obligation to work

i guess what i'm saying is simply all of us go through situations of understanding/acceptance of beliefs/customs different than our own. Why, suddenly, is protesting suddenly something that can be 'done without'

Really? What 12 jobs at a large restaurant are not essential?

Not sure what this has to do with "beliefs/customs" but no one is denying their right to protest.

*edit: Are you suggesting it is the custom south of the Rio Grande to protest during working hours with no consequences?

If there were 20 people on shift and 12 were absent... I would say those 12 were pretty essential , LOL. A restaurant isn't like an office, everybody needs to be there. Offices can run light, hands-on service businesses cannot.

I'm with ya...

Good for them, fucking morons.

i agree.. i still think whoever the manager was should have seen this coming and made the necessary arrangements

the point was if we're making exceptions for dogma, sexual orientation, etc, we should be thinking about the right to protest

Seems pretty essential to me, especially if I was a customer.

i agree, essential enough to want to make sure the positions are going to be covered, considering the requests and importance of the issue to the people in question.

The statement up above says there was no notice given. Did they make a request somewhere? I haven't read the full article.

You must be trolling. What arrangements would that be? How do you suspect 12 people just are not going to show up?

Who is making exceptions? Again, get it thru your Commie head, no one is denying their right to protest. I salute them in fact. It takes a lot of conviction to be able to throw away a job for something you believe in. Especially these days.

Does not seem to be much argument that they just did not show up.

i saw that they didnt call in to take the day off and one of them didnt speak a lick of english. fuck those bastards!

Considering what requests?

"The union said at least some of the workers had asked to be granted the day off but were denied. So they decided to attend the rally in solidarity."

is what I'm basing the argument on

i don't think you even know what communist means

but thanks for playing

GOOOOOOOOOOOOD fucking losers!

you don't show up in a restaurant and fuck things up that badly, get fired. it's up to the company and it's decisions.