Woodfin & ICE Caught in Political Scandal !!!

The Bay Guardian revealed today that Samuel Hardage owner of the Woodfin
Suites hotel chain used his political influence as a Republican Party
leader and donor to have his Congressman persuade the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) Agency to investigate his very own hotel and
workers.

In an interview with a Guardian reporter, a representative of Congressman
Brian Bilbray's office admitted that the Congressman's office had been
asked by the Woodfin Suites Hotel in Emeryville to initiate an ICE audit
of their very own hotel. Bilbray then asked Julie Myers, the head of ICE,
to conduct the audit. ICE agents arrived at the hotel in April despite
ICE's written policy not to intervene in labor disputes. Woodfin then used
the ICE's audit as justification in court for firing these workers.

For almost a year, Hardage and the local hotel management have repeatedly
denied that their motives for terminating the Measure C whistle blowers
were retaliatory. Instead they have claimed that they were complying with
federal immigration law to avoid criminal and civil penalties. However,
while Woodfin told the Alameda Superior Court, the Emeryville City Council
and the media that it was firing workers because of the ICE audit, it
never mentioned that it had brought this audit onto itself and had used
political connections to do so.

According to the Guardian:

"For months the Woodfin Suites has tried to justify firing workers who
organized for better labor conditions by alluding to fears of reprisals by
ICE The 'fact that our hotel has been asked by the U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement to provide employment records suggests that our
actions are anything but voluntary,' he [Woodfin General Manager, Hugh
Macintosh] wrote. The Bilbray connection significantly undermines this
claim?"

To read the article, go to:

This is a drastic example of why we need comprehensive immigration reform
that includes strong workers' rights protections! Let's rise up against
this political corruption and send a strong message to ICE and the Woodfin
that the community won't stand for this scandalous cronyism!


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