INS RAID AT MINNEAPOLIS HOTEL DRAWS SUPPORT FOR UNDOCUMENTED WORKERS

The INS arrested eight housekeepers at a Holiday Inn in Minneapolis, Minnesota on October 13, 1999 for working without authorization.  In an unusual move, six of the women were released because of the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees International Union, Local 17, which paid $18,000 in bond.  The other two women had already been released because they have small children. 

The arrests came after the manager of the hotel called the INS to report the workers.  Some people say he did this in retaliation for their efforts to unionize.  The manager denies this, saying he called the INS to avoid being fined after he discovered the housekeepers were working without INS authorization. 

According to Jaye Rykunyk, vice-president of the union, the union paid to bail the women out of jail because “the most courageous thing workers ever do is take the step of organizing a union.  For undocumented workers to do that is an extraordinary, courageous thing to do.  We have an obligation to protect them."  The union has filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, saying the INS was improperly used to stop union activity.

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