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The fallout of the controversial Arizona immigration law, SB 1070, continues to affect the local restaurant industry in not-so-subtle ways.
The latest incident involves a Pei Wei Asian Diner in Chandler (54th St/Ray Rd) that fired nearly half of its roughly 30 employees after they ditched work to attend a May 29 protest of the law, reports the Republic.
While the Scottsdale-based company maintains that the group of 12 Hispanic cooks, bussers and dishwashers violated its attendance policy and disrupted the restaurant’s service, the workers argue that they were unfairly terminated, based on earlier incidents where employees skipped work and were simply reprimanded.
Although the workers were not members of the Phoenix branch of the Industrial Workers of the World, the union is lending its support to their cause, calling Pei Wei’s actions selective enforcement of company policy.
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