Statement of US supporters of the FT-CI:
May 19, 2006

THE CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE FOR THE CHEVY'S FRESH-MEX WORKERS GROWS STRONGER! UNITED LABOR DEFENSE NEEDED! REINSTATE AND COMPENSATE THE FRESH-MEX WORKERS!

Chevy's Fresh-Mex, Inc. and Alan Beebe's Cal-Mex, Inc., a franchisee, violated Federal and California Labor Laws when they fired kitchen workers. Now they are breaking a sweat under the heat of militant labor solidarity. Labor can turn up the pressure and force them to concede with militant mass action! The Chevy's Fresh-Mex restaurant in Tracy, California illegaly fired its latin@ kitchen workers in retaliation for their participation in the May Day strike for immigrants rights. The workers there did not give in silently. They formed a committee, and a local solidarity coalition has organized to fight for their reinstatement.

The Coalición Obrera por la Justicia para Todos (Coalition for Justice for All Workers) is organizing a protest march in Tracy on Saturday, May 20 at 10 AM, beginning at the Dr. Powers Park and ending at the Chevy's in the Tri-Valley shopping mall. The coalition has the support of local labor organizations, including SEIU local 1000, the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement-AFL-CIO (LCLAA), the local of UNITE-HERE, and the Sacramento Central Labor Council AFL-CIO.

Al Rojas, a spokesperson for the coalition, says that Chevy's corporation is trying to avert the bad publicity of a protest by informing local television stations that the issue had already been settled -- when in fact the company, Cal-Mex Inc, is still refusing to meet with the workers and has not reinstated them! This shows that the campaign for justice may be having an impact, and that solidarity action on a national scale could tip the balance in the favor of the fired workers.

Supporters around the country should call the following numbers:

800-4-CHEVYS (national corporate offices)
209-839-2241 (Tracy Chevy's, ask for Greg, the manager)
925-960-0071 (ask for Gary, the franchise manager of the Tracy Chevy's)

and demand immediate reinstatement and compensation for the workers who were fired or who quit in protest. Remember, restaurants are open on the weekends!

The best guarantee of success for the fired Fresh-Mex workers is to expand the mass protest action planned for Tracy on Saturday to as many Chevy's Fresh-Mex locations as possible[1]! The unions must use their staff and resources to mobilize their members and supporters for these actions!

From Tracy, CA to Bush's racist anti-immigrant diatribe of May 15, to the deadly new militarization of the border, the capitalist class that depends for its existence on the heavy exploitation of latin@s and other oppressed workers is measuring its strength against the new immigrants rights movement that exploded on May 1. It is probing for weaknesses and divisions, and planning the counter-attack. Multi-racial labor unity around the demand of full rights for all workers, and militant defense against all retaliatory measures, is the best way to advance the struggle for workers rights.

[1] For locations see www.chevys.com/map/now.html

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