Protest hits Circuit City firings

Teamsters from Local 808 and supporters of immigrant rights from the May 1st Coalition picketed outside the Circuit City store near New York’s Union Square on April 7. They were protesting the major electronics outlet’s decision to summarily fire 3,400 experienced workers across the country, simply to facilitate the hiring of a less-experienced, lower-paid staff.

WW photo: G. Dunkel

Workers with 20 and 30 years’ experience had come to work and been told to pack their things and get out.

To rub salt into the wounds of those fired, Circuit City had publicly said it was eliminating the workers because their salaries were “too high”—and that the same workers could apply for their former jobs at lower pay after a 10-week delay.

In a leaflet distributed outside the store, the May 1st Coalition for Immigrant Rights wrote that it “feels strongly that what happens at Circuit City impacts the entire community and all workers. The trend by multi-billion dollar corporations to cut workers and wages and to eliminate pensions and health care while profits soar must be fought by everyone. We want the workers at Circuit City to know that they are not alone, that we support them.

“It is why we are saying ‘An injury to one is an injury to all’ and why we are picketing outside of Circuit City to demand that the workers get their jobs and pay back.”

The picket line got media attention, including an article in the Spanish-language newspaper El Diario, and was seen by workers inside Circuit City and many passers-by on New York’s busy 14th Street. The store’s management quickly called the police, who harassed the picketers but couldn’t stop their message.