Did Ben’s Kosher Deli Fire Workers Over #DayWithoutImmigrants Protest?

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
Ben’s Kosher Deli is coming under attack for allegedly firing workers who stayed away from work last week to observe the nationwide #DayWithoutImmigrants protest.
Telemundo reported that the Long Island Jewish eatery dumped 25 workers after they took part in the anti-Trump protest.
But the deli fired back insisting that it only fired an unspecified number of protesting workers who sought to intimidate colleagues for working on the day.
The company asserted that any workers who simply joined the protest are free to return to work.
The deli was one of a handful of companies that took action against workers related to the pro-immigration protests.
Anti-Trump activists have vowed to boycott firms that retaliate against protesters. It remains to be seen if Long Island pastrami-lovers will shun Ben’s.
The company operates 7 outlets in Long Island, New York City and Florida.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
