Boycott has mixed results in Midlands

Absenteeism was higher for some businesses, schools, but participation was generally light

By NOELLE PHILLIPS

nophillips@thestate.com

On Monday, two tiendas on West Columbia’s 12th Street told the story of the national boycott known as “A Day Without an Immigrant.”

On one block, El Rincon Vaquero was open for business.

On another, a poster taped to Tienda Y Taqueria Jasmine’s front window notified customers its owners were observing the boycott.

While hundreds of thousands of protesters turned out across the nation to oppose congressional efforts to crack down on illegal immigration, the Midlands almost was split down the middle.

Businesses — ranging from poultry processors to landscapers — reported a higher absenteeism among Hispanic employees, but few closed.

At Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries, Sean Moore said his two restaurants’ Hispanic employees worked but observed the boycott by not spending money.

“I have a good relationship with my employees,” Moore said. “My guys are just honest and hardworking.”

The State newspaper contacted 32 businesses. Of those, 19 said the boycott made no impact, while 13 reported at least a few workers took the day off.

In local schools, Lexington 2 reported a spike in absentee rates for Hispanic students, with at least 62 missing class. Other school districts in Lexington, Richland and Kershaw counties did not report high absences, except for Windsor Elementary, where 28 of 103 Hispanic students were out.

Monday’s boycott did not galvanize the Midlands’ Hispanic community as much as an April 10 demonstration at the State House. Then, more than 3,000 people attended a protest organized by the Coalition for New South Carolinians.

The coalition, an immigrant advocacy group, did not endorse Monday’s boycott. There were no demonstrations at the State House.

Both events are a result of the raging national debate over immigration reform.

With an estimated 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States — including at least 55,000 in South Carolina — Congress is debating such options as creating a path to citizenship and deporting illegal immigrants.

Organizers of Monday’s boycott hoped it would illustrate the economic impact of the country’s immigrants.

Columbia Farms in West Columbia was the largest local company to shut down when about 10 percent of its work force did not show up Sunday night, said Jim Mabe, the complex manager.

“We had some pretty good indications the absenteeism would be high,” Mabe said.

The company ran extra shifts Friday and Saturday in anticipation of the boycott, he said. About 90 percent of its 775 employees are Hispanic.

However, two other large poultry processors — Gold Kist in Sumter and Louis Rich in Newberry — did not report any absences.

The construction industry reported a mixed reaction.

Edmund H. Montieth Jr., vice president and broker-in-charge for The Mungo Cos., said his company had been affected when a large number of Hispanic contractors did not work.

Meanwhile, Margaret Tonkin, business development director for Hood Construction Inc., said her company did not experience a negative impact.

Of the 13 landscaping companies contacted, only two said their Hispanic workers did not report for duty.

Joe Graham of Greenlawn Landscaping had five workers take the day off.

“If our government makes all these people go back, all my family is going to go hungry,” Graham said. “I’ve been using Mexican labor for 14 years. Before that, it was a problem finding people.”

Some business owners made it clear that employees were expected to work.

Green Earth Services employs more than two dozen immigrants, and all worked, owner David Livingston said.

“I don’t want you to get the impression we strong-armed them,” Livingston said. “We just said it would not be a good career move.”

Reach Phillips at (803) 771-8307. Staff writers James D. McWilliams, Jim DuPlessis, Delawese Fulton, Ben Werner and Bill Robinson contributed to this report.