The 18 immigrant employees told their supervisors with less than 24 hours notice that they’d be  part of  the nationwide work boycott. The next day, they were told they were fired.

One employee complained. “I would tell him he was unfair, after working for them for so many years, giving him our best. They could not understand that it was just one day. We were going to make up that day on a Sunday, but they didn’t understand that, and it was not the best way. They didn’t give us an opportunity and just told us we were fired,” he said.

Fiar? The protesters were the ones being unfair.  Losing 18 employees without time to replace them placed the company in an impossible situation. Loyalty goes two ways. The employees had no grievance with the company, but thanks to the stupid protest,  victimized it anyway. In a statement, the company’s lawyer said in part,

“Bradley Coatings, Incorporated (BCI) is a family-owned, Nashville-based business that provides commercial painting services to its clients on a very demanding schedule.  Established in 1986, BCI has always celebrated diversity and supported the immigrant community.  This past Wednesday night, certain employees of BCI informed their leadership that they would not be at work the following day.  Because of the time-sensitive nature of the jobs these employees were assigned to, all employees were told that they would need to show up for work or they would be terminated.  On Thursday, the majority of BCI’s employees fulfilled their obligations to our clients, but eighteen employees did not.  Regretfully, and consistent with its prior communication to all its employees, BCI had no choice but to terminate these individuals.  The reason these employees missed work—to engage in peaceful demonstrations—had nothing to do with BCI’s decision to terminate them.  BCI regrets this situation, but it has contracted with its clients to complete work on a schedule set by the client’s general contractor.”

Apparently about a hundred protesters lost their jobs. Now some are trying to organize boycotts of the companies that fired them.

Of course they are.