Posted on 05/01/2006 4:17:43 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Chinese food or a hamburger were easy to come by in the Mission District on Monday. Doughnuts or bagels? No problem. But in a neighborhood where every other storefront seems to house a tacqueria, you would have been hard-pressed to find a burrito.
With leaders of the national "Day Without Immigrants" calling for an economic boycott, many Hispanic-owned businesses closed for the day in the city's unofficial Latin quarter and throughout California, encouraging employees to participate in the massive protest marches.
"Today, no - no working and no buying," said Enrique Varguas, 28, who rescheduled a dozen or so landscaping appointments so he could participate in San Francisco's demonstration. "They will see how much money immigrants spend, and how much immigrants contribute to the economy of the country."
Though participation in the work stoppage was uneven and hard to gauge, its impact was hardly limited to Hispanic neighborhoods in a state that relies heavily on immigrant labor. Building contractors in many communities canceled jobs, appliance stores curtailed deliveries, parents scrambled to make alternative child care arrangements and farms had fewer people to pick produce.
At the state Capitol in Sacramento, the California Legislature canceled its floor sessions and the two onsite cafeterias remained latched because not enough employees showed up. Yet many large manufacturers, including the Farmer John meatpacking plant in Los Angeles and Gallo Wine's plants in Modesto, Fresno, Sonoma and other cities reported they were near fully staffed.
Jack Kyser, chief economist of the Los Angeles Economic development Corp., said the economic fallout of the one-day boycott could be as high as $200 million in Los Angeles County. The estimate, a fraction of the $1.2 billion in economic activity the county generates daily, consisted of business lost on Monday and took into consideration commerce that would be made up later in the week.
Throughout the state, employers seemed eager to accommodate employees if they could. Fencing contractor Justin Lena had to postpone five of the six jobs he had scheduled in the San Francisco suburbs until Saturday after 14 of his 16 employees said they would not be coming to work.
Lena filled in, shoveling gravel. But he wasn't upset, especially after his most veteran employee told him his friends and family would be angry with him if he breached the boycott.
"The Mexican guys I have who work for me, they are absolutely fantastic workers. I've had Asian, I've had black and I've had white. (Hispanics) are the most hardworking, dedicated, family oriented, focused people I've ever had work for me," said Lena, 26. "The backbone of my business is on their shoulders."
Carmen Murray, owner of Rodeo Carpet Mills in Commerce, Calif., said she was operating on a skeleton staff Monday as two-thirds of her 33-person work force took the day off to attend rallies. She said her workers asked weeks in advance and were allowed to use vacation time.
"We thought it was important for them and we wanted to support their feelings," Murray said.
In food-loving San Francisco, owner Laurie Thomas made a deal with workers at her Rose Pistola restaurant: she would keep the Italian eatery shut for lunch if the night crew promised to show up for dinner. A sign on the door informed patrons of the closure, but didn't give the reason.
"I don't feel compelled to make a big statement about it," Thomas said. "We need to do what's right to run the business and sometimes that includes compromise."
Farmworker advocates claimed the boycott put a significant dent in one of the state's signature industries. The United Farm Workers union said the boycott shut down grape, strawberry and citrus harvests throughout California for the day.
"This really demonstrates the power that we have when we're unified," UFW President Arturo Rodriguez said from a rally in Salinas.
But agricultural interests said farmers were prepared for the boycott and would probably not suffer. Many farms and packing plants let their workers take the time off while others rearranged schedules to make up for missed work on Monday, California Farm Bureau Federation spokesman Dave Kranz said.
Sean McNally, a spokesman for Grimmway Farms in Bakersfield, said the company was down to less than 30 percent of its normal work force, but didn't have to close any of its vegetable-growing operations.
"We made it clear there would be no repercussions if they wanted to take that day off. We wanted them to feel free to express themselves," McNally said.
While industries with heavily Hispanic staffs saw the biggest impact, the boycott also had a trickle-down effect. Bay Area 2nd Mom Inc., a Palo Alto-based caregiver referral service, saw a sharp increase in calls on Sunday and Monday from parents who needed a last-minute nanny or baby sitter, said Chief Executive Shalini Azariah.
"Today our phones are just ringing off the hook," Azariah said.
For some enterprises, that meant a boon in business. With so most other restaurants closed, Wan Kee, a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco's Mission District, did brisk lunchtime business.
"We have to eat, too," said Francisco Sanchez, 25, an ice cream vendor, tucking into a plate of rice and stir-friend scallops before he headed off to San Francisco's protest.
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Associated Press Writers Terence Chea, Gary Gentile, Olivia Munoz and Don Thompson contributed to this story.
Mrsdd hired an American to do the yard work today - Me.
Cheap labor - A hug and a kiss and I'm a rich man!
Not only did we survive.... but it was so much better on the road today. We need at least one boycott per week to thin out traffic.
I didn't notice any effect here in "culture-rich" Florida, either. Also, your right: Fox news was just as bad as the other media outlets on advertising this boycott (free of charge) for the invaders and it still failed miserably. I think MSNBC, surprisingly, was the most balanced on this whole mess. MSNBC actually ran a comprehensive, FAIR report on the Minutemen the night before this purported, "crippling" boycott.
Oh, let me retract that. You're a jerk!
Must be one of those jobs that Americans are willing to do if the criminals weren't flooding the market.
And take the burrito banditos with them.
You're right...I'm a boring jerk...But just to people that are anti-American and anti America...
.... oh, ... you're from Michigan. You have no concept of market forces.
My wife bought groceries at the Summerville, SC Walmart today and said she had no problem getting in & out.
The place is usually packed every day.
I'm sure you're right...I suspect most of the protesters today were illegals that don't work...
Furthernore, you are ignorant. A boor DOES NOT mean you're boring. It means you're a boor:
1. A person with rude, clumsy manners and little refinement.
2. A peasant.
And we survived.
Let's try a full week next time.
Ha...We got lotsa market forces in Michigan...The market that doesn't like to buy and hire American just forced my job to China and Brazil...
I need to get on welfare so all the folks that hire illegal aliens can support me, with the money they saved by hiring illegal aliens...I guess it all works out in the end...
Throughout the state, employers seemed eager to accommodate employees if they could.
In food-loving San Francisco, owner Laurie Thomas made a deal with workers at her Rose Pistola restaurant: she would keep the Italian eatery shut for lunch if the night crew promised to show up for dinner.
Carmen Murray, owner of Rodeo Carpet Mills in Commerce, Calif., said she was operating on a skeleton staff Monday as two-thirds of her 33-person work force took the day off to attend rallies. She said her workers asked weeks in advance and were allowed to use vacation time.
Many farms and packing plants let their workers take the time off while others rearranged schedules to make up for missed work on Monday,
"We made it clear there would be no repercussions if they wanted to take that day off. We wanted them to feel free to express themselves," McNally said.
For some enterprises, that meant a boon in business. With so most other restaurants closed, Wan Kee, a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco's Mission District, did brisk lunchtime business.
In other words, whatever success the boycott had was due to the fact that the boycotters were assured that there would be no risk to themselves if they participated. From the above, the total sacrifice that I see by the protestors is that a few of them had to take vacation days. Otherwise, because of fear, or because of greed, the employers themselves were assisting the boycott, and the boycotters got a free holiday.
See 133. You're still uneducated.
Well you won't get any criticism here, your reasons are valid and well thought out.
In this particular case, I have an additional reason for not counter protesting: I believe those Marxists are looking to engineer a confrontation that would be played up as violent racists attacking innocent immigrant women and children.
The black block and anarchist elements have previously used leftist demonstrations as cover for violent activity designed to provoke a police response that would fall on non violent lefties and discredit authorities as "brutal". Police have to be there, but we don't have to play into their hands.
These communists tried to entrap some of the Minutemen recently, but the excellent training and selection process (of Minutemen) put them wise to this tactic.
John and Ken vs Channel 11 news on KFI now!!
Great..
Today was pure bliss on the highways & side roads. Traffic flowed freely & there was parking everywhere. I made it to & from work in half the time. I was in & out of the bank & Post Office in record time.
I heard class size was cut in half & the english speaking kids actually learned things today. People actually got seen in the emergency rooms with little wait time.
PLEASE CONTINUE YOUR BOYCOTT!
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