An ongoing strike in a southern Wisconsin city dubbed by some the “Cheese Capital of the USA” has made one dairy production facility the locus for a complex labor dispute amid a sweeping federal crackdown on immigrants.
Dozens of workers at W&W Dairy in Monroe have been on strike for more than a week after new owners said they’ll use E-Verify to process each employee. That’s an online federal system that checks, among other things, whether a person is legally authorized to work in the United States.
The 43 workers aren’t protesting the policy. Instead, they’re arguing that, because it effectively forces some workers out, they’re entitled to severance pay commensurate with their years of employment.
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At a rally at the facility on Tuesday, members of unions held signs arguing that the striking workers, who are not unionized, are entitled to just compensation.
WPR has not independently verified the immigration status of the striking employees, although community organizers supporting the workers say all are “affected” by the new policy.
Jacob Hamburger teaches immigration law at Marquette Law School, focusing on the relationship between state and federal law. He said the situation “highlights some of the discrepancy between federal and state workplace protections.”
He said that, nationwide, even people who are working without legal authorization have rights to employment...
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