Hispanic boycott takes its toll

Short-staffed Princeton businesses pitch in and make do

By: David Campbell
   Monday was marked by rallies and widespread worker boycotts as undocumented aliens in the Princeton area took part in a national day of protest to demonstrate their value to the nation’s economy.
   But business owners in Princeton, with the help of skeleton crews of themselves and small numbers of non-Hispanic staff — along with family or friends in some cases — managed to stay open throughout the one-day boycott, dubbed by organizers "A Day Without Immigrants."
   Several hundred people rallied Monday morning at Trenton’s City Hall. On Monday afternoon, a group of about 10 people met with U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) at his district offices in West Windsor Township.
   They thanked him for supporting "reasonable and humane" immigration legislation, and for opposing legislation by Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) that seeks tougher controls on immigration, according to a letter read by Ann Yasuhara of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund.
   "We count on your continuing support of our cause and urge you to speak out courageously and often in defense of those people who live and work among us and have shown us how worthy they are to be appreciated as an important part of our society," Ms. Yasuhara said.
   Rep. Holt said "truly comprehensive" reform legislation is needed to address all facets of a complex issue.
   "There has to be a recognition that we as an economy and a society want and need people of talent and energy from other countries," he said. "We can’t have completely open borders, of course. But a vicious or punitive system will not be tolerated by the American people over the long term."
   Many who took part in Monday’s one-day boycotts were expressing their opposition to restrictive federal legislation like that introduced by Rep. Sensenbrenner.
   Organizers and protesters are calling for federal legislation that would create citizenship opportunities for undocumented aliens and a guest-worker program. There are an estimated 12 million undocumented aliens in the United States.
   Hispanics in Princeton joined immigrant protesters in cities and communities across the country in reported boycotts of work, school and shopping.
   Between 40 and 50 Hispanic workers at Triumph Brewing Company on Nassau Street — kitchen staff, food runners, bus staff, porters and servers — took the day off as part of the boycotts, said Triumph spokesman Eric Nutt. Nevertheless, he said, the brewery stayed open.
   "The entire management team stepped up today to show support to our employees to allow them to have this day," Mr. Nutt said.
   He said the managers came in early Monday morning to clean the restaurant and get it ready for business, and said additional staff were brought in from the Triumph facility in New Hope, Pa. "The real test will be this evening," Mr. Nutt said Monday afternoon.
   At Cox’s Market on Nassau Street, seven employees didn’t come to work on Monday, said Cox’s co-owner Marguerite Heap. She and her two fellow co-owners handled the walk-in customers and catering orders, but planned to close two hours early at 3 instead of 5 p.m. due to the boycotts.
   "We discussed it with our employees last week," she said. "We let them know that it would be an impact on us, but that if it was important to them we would let them leave without repercussions."
   Helping out was Princeton immigration lawyer Ryan Stark Lilienthal, who donned a Cox’s shirt and manned the cash register during the lunch rush after speaking at the rally in Trenton on Monday morning.
   "This is all really about community," Mr. Lilienthal said between customers. "The people who work in Princeton, the business owners in Princeton — we’re all part of a community."
   He said Monday’s boycotts were the "quintessential American right of passage, which is freedom of expression."
   Bon Appetit at the Princeton Shopping Center also stayed open for business despite the fact that about half a dozen of the store’s staff took part in the boycotts and didn’t come to work.
   "So far, so good," said Bon Appetit co-owner Michel Lemmerling at the start of the business day on Monday morning.
   Arthur Kukoda, executive chef and co-proprietor of The Alchemist & Barrister restaurant in Princeton — where 15 of his kitchen staff, along with the restaurant’s bus staff, took part in the one-day job action — expressed confidence he and the staff he did have on hand Monday would manage.
   "I’m doing all right," Mr. Kukoda said Monday. "I’ve got my team here — a couple of family members included."