Workers and their allies rallied outside the Tom Cat Bakery in New York City Wednesday to protest a threat by the company to fire dozens of immigrant workers. Managers at the bakery say the Department of Homeland Security ordered an I-9 audit of employees’ immigration status. But some employees question whether managers initiated the demand for immigration papers independently.
Worker: “Last week, I was called into the office, and I was only given 10 days’ notice to submit my working papers. We’re fighting for our rights. We have demands. They have given us only until the 28th of this month. After that, we’re fired. After hearing that news, we were devastated, because we’ve given so many years of our lives to the rise of this company.”
The workers were joined by New York City Councilmember Mark Levine, who said Tom Cat Bakery should offer its employees a work-visa sponsorship to allow them to remain at the company.