Minutemen Protect Business that Steals American Jobs

This is a letter to the editor i'm sending off to the New Times. Below are some pics taken by "s" and there's a link to the story on arizona.indymeda.org.

The Bird sure exposes the ridiculousness of Pruitt's owner's shenanigans, but check this out. This past Saturday, I was highly amused to see Minutemen, ex-minutemen, Rusty Childress, and crew out in front of Pruitt's Home Furnishings with their tools, holding a half-ass work party. This was to justify Pruitt's owner Sensing closing the sidewalk in front of his business where on Saturdays, day laborers and their supporters had been holding protests to boycott the business. Sensing apparently got a permit to close the sidewalk for landscaping for this past Saturday and future Saturdays.

How interesting it was that the big digital sign at the business says, "Direct Import Saves You $". Anyone see any irony in this? See, just like many businesses in the U.S., furniture makers have been moving their factories out of the country (such as a Dorel manufacturer in Dowagiac, Michigan closed in May, laying off around 200 people), or simply importing furniture from China and other countries where it can be made much cheaper (because it's easier to exploit labor there). So while minutemen and others are complaining that "immigrants are stealing our jobs" they're ignoring businesses that are not only stealing jobs away from people here, they are also doing it for profit, not for survival like those who migrate here for work (although I'm not convinced that migrants are at all to blame for job loss).

I don't have to prove that Sensing is taking advantage of cheap labor overseas since they're advertising it themselves. But for example, I found that Spring Air, one of the companies Pruitt's buys from, has a number of their mattresses made in China. Sixty-four percent of U.S. upholstery imports come from China and could even contribute to the weakening of the U.S. dollar. But the minutemen and folks spent hours in the hot sun sweeping the sidewalk and moving around tools and potted plants probably for free so Sensing could protect his business? What a joke.

And let us not forget that our tax money is also going to the police to protect this business as well.