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http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=368547
Latino leaders protest at UPS Addison
Leaders of a Latino grass-roots organization in DuPage County are denouncing a United Parcel Service policy they say could cost many longtime workers their jobs.
Cristobal Cavazos, coordinator of Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, called on UPS Thursday to "opt out" of a system to reverify workers' Social Security numbers.
Cavazos said an estimated 200 workers at UPS facilities in Addison, Palatine, Chicago and Joliet fear they will be fired.
"These are workers with seniority, who are a part of the community... (and who have) done nothing but show up for work faithfully," Cavazos said.
The organization may call for a national boycott of UPS by the Latino community if the workers are fired, he said.
By the end of the month, UPS employees must submit new I-9 forms that will be used to validate their legal work status through the government's E-Verify system. As a federal contractor, UPS is required to use E-Verify for all new hires and any employee doing "direct, substantial work" under the federal contracts. Employers may also opt to verify the entire work force.
"The choice by UPS to run E-verify on workers with seniority will result in hundreds of jobs lost in the Latino community, both here in DuPage County and across Illinois," organizers wrote in a letter submitted to UPS.
A UPS spokesman, however, said any employee could potentially handle a package shipped under federal contract. "It's not that we chose to (verify employees' status); we have to," said Malcolm K. Berkley, public relations manager for UPS.
If the information doesn't match up with what employees provided at the time of hiring, the company will look into it and take action on "a case-by-case basis," Berkley said.
Immigrant Solidarity DuPage is a grass-roots organization founded three years ago in Glendale Heights. Leaders met last month in Bloomingdale with about 60 UPS workers who are worried about losing their jobs. The organization has the support of Latino clergy members, Cavazos said, but a priest and a deacon from two DuPage Catholic parishes who were slated to participate in the news conference did not attend Thursday.
"As President Obama has noted, this is a broken immigration system," Cavazos said. "People who are working are losing their ability to work, and it's devastating the Latino community."
Latino leaders protest at UPS Addison
Leaders of a Latino grass-roots organization in DuPage County are denouncing a United Parcel Service policy they say could cost many longtime workers their jobs.
Cristobal Cavazos, coordinator of Immigrant Solidarity DuPage, called on UPS Thursday to "opt out" of a system to reverify workers' Social Security numbers.
Cavazos said an estimated 200 workers at UPS facilities in Addison, Palatine, Chicago and Joliet fear they will be fired.
"These are workers with seniority, who are a part of the community... (and who have) done nothing but show up for work faithfully," Cavazos said.
The organization may call for a national boycott of UPS by the Latino community if the workers are fired, he said.
By the end of the month, UPS employees must submit new I-9 forms that will be used to validate their legal work status through the government's E-Verify system. As a federal contractor, UPS is required to use E-Verify for all new hires and any employee doing "direct, substantial work" under the federal contracts. Employers may also opt to verify the entire work force.
"The choice by UPS to run E-verify on workers with seniority will result in hundreds of jobs lost in the Latino community, both here in DuPage County and across Illinois," organizers wrote in a letter submitted to UPS.
A UPS spokesman, however, said any employee could potentially handle a package shipped under federal contract. "It's not that we chose to (verify employees' status); we have to," said Malcolm K. Berkley, public relations manager for UPS.
If the information doesn't match up with what employees provided at the time of hiring, the company will look into it and take action on "a case-by-case basis," Berkley said.
Immigrant Solidarity DuPage is a grass-roots organization founded three years ago in Glendale Heights. Leaders met last month in Bloomingdale with about 60 UPS workers who are worried about losing their jobs. The organization has the support of Latino clergy members, Cavazos said, but a priest and a deacon from two DuPage Catholic parishes who were slated to participate in the news conference did not attend Thursday.
"As President Obama has noted, this is a broken immigration system," Cavazos said. "People who are working are losing their ability to work, and it's devastating the Latino community."
The bill contained a limited amnesty provision incidentally. 
