Protesters picket Rolling Meadows Taco Bell
Protesters gathered Thursday outside a Taco Bell off Kirchoff Road in Rolling Meadows, saying four workers were unfairly fired from their jobs last month.
Two of those employees had worked at the Taco Bell restaurant at 2997 Kirchoff Road for more than a decade, said Tim Bell, one of the protest's organizers. The firings came after the store conducted Social Security number background checks, Bell said. When discrepancies were found challenging the workers' employment eligibility, the employees were instantly fired, Bell said.
“So we started talking to the community more about it and the idea to do petitions came up,” Bell said. About 250 signatures have been collected so far.
Those leaders include Raul Trejo, lay leader at St. Collette Church in Rolling Meadows.
“Our community feels disrespected,” Trejo said. “If Taco Bell expects our patronage, then it needs to talk to us about fairness to its longtime employees.”
The proper protocol, used by ICE officials, is to give employees a 30-day window to ensure the information is correct. Many times, the databases employers use have errors, Bell said. The background checks weren't conducted properly and the manner they were done shows discrimination as outlined in the Illinois Human Rights Act, passed by Springfield lawmakers in 1979, he said.
One of the employees had been working at Taco Bell for 14 years before her sudden dismissal last month, Bell said. Employers need to verify potential employees' status before they hire them, he said.
Bell said they've tried to schedule a meeting with Barbara Lucas, who he said is the restaurant's owner, but they've failed. Lucas didn't return a voice mail left at her Schaumburg office.
A woman who answered the phone at Taco Bell and said she was the restaurant's manager declined to comment, referring inquiries to Tom Crohan, who she said was the owner.
Bell is a senior organizer with the Chicago Workers Collaborative, which has offices in Rolling Meadows, Chicago and Waukegan.