Fired Latino painters get jobs back

A home-painting contractor has reinstated all 17 employees it fired the day after they attended an April 10 march for immigration rights in Seattle.

The employees, all Latino, are expected to return to work today with their previous wages and benefits, said Steve Bloom, business representative of their union, District Council 5 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades.

The employees participated in the march, one of several across the country, in protest of legislation in Congress to crack down on illegal immigrants.

The contractor, Laitala Enterprises of Monroe, could not be reached by The Seattle Times on Monday but told The Associated Press the workers, who lost a week's pay, would return to work today.

Last week one of the firm's owners, Terry Laitala, said the company fired the workers for insubordination and abandoning their jobs after leaving work early against their foreman's orders. The foreman, however, told The Seattle Times he had neither encouraged nor discouraged the workers from attending the march.

Across the nation, other immigrants who participated in similar marches reportedly were fired, including 21 meat-packing workers in Detroit and six restaurant workers in Houston.

A delegation of local leaders met with Laitala on Friday, said Jorge Quiroga, board president of El Comité Pro-Amnistia General y Justicia Social, an immigrant-advocacy group that organized the Seattle march. It included representatives from the Church Council of Greater Seattle, Seattle Jobs with Justice, Casa Latina and King County Executive Ron Sims' office.

Members of the delegation voiced their disappointment with the company and gave it until Monday to reconsider its action, which Quiroga chalked up to a miscommunication.

Quiroga called a news conference Monday to show solidarity with the 17 fired painters, saying his coalition will not be silent if employers penalize their employees for joining in a May Day march on May 1.

The purpose of that gathering will be similar to last week's march — advocating for citizenship of illegal immigrants — but will be silent, with demonstrators wearing black to pay respect to those who have died along the U.S.-Mexico border.

"We hope that we have the same amount of people, but we know a lot of people are afraid after what happened. But we will keep pushing," Quiroga said.

Sanjay Bhatt: 206-464-3103 or sbhatt@seattletimes.com