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Anti-Illegal Immigrant Republican found to have illegals working for him!
Oberweis: Claims just dirty politics
By Rob Olmstead and Tona Kunz
Daily Herald Staff Writers
Posted Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Gubernatorial candidate Jim Oberweis was accused Tuesday of talking out of both sides of his mouth — railing against illegal immigration while having his Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg stores cleaned at subminimum wage by those same illegal immigrants.
“He says that we should not be here, but then he hires us, abuses us and gets rich off our work,” said Rosa Ramirez, 41, at a press conference put on by Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Ramirez was referring to a campaign advertisement Oberweis aired in the 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate in which he said he would move to stem the tide of 10,000 illegal immigrants entering the country each day. Oberweis has not made immigration reform a part of his gubernatorial campaign.
Ramirez and Jorge Ibarra, 35, said an Oberweis subcontractor stiffed them in May out of promised pay of $700 a month each for about 100 hours of work each and instead gave her and Ibarra just $350 each or $3.50 an hour, well below the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour and Illinois’ minimum wage of $6.50.
Oberweis immediately denied any knowledge of the activities of the subcontractor.
Jim Oberweis
“Oberweis Dairy has never knowingly employed illegal aliens, and if it were discovered that an illegal alien were employed, to the degree legally possible, that person’s employment would be terminated,” a news release said.
That subcontractor, identified as Patmar Janitorial Service by the immigration group, did not return phone calls.
Oberweis accused the immigration group — which had strongly criticized his Senate campaign ads — of sandbagging him and questioned why they didn’t approach him with a phone call instead of a press conference.
“This smear campaign initiated by the proponents of illegal immigration is politics at its worst. This is why good people do not want to be involved in politics,” said Oberweis in a prepared release.
Still, at a press conference Tuesday afternoon at his dairy in North Aurora, he vowed to get to the bottom of the mess.
Tony Crement, labor attorney for Oberweis Dairy, said he talked to Patmar and was told Ramirez and Ibarra are not its employees. Patmar told Oberweis the company doesn’t recognize the names or faces.
“We don’t know who is telling the truth and who is lying here,” Oberweis said. “We are taking the first steps. It will be dealt with.”
Chris Williams, an attorney for the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative Legal Clinic, who helped the two workers file a complaint Thursday with the Illinois Department of Labor, said it doesn’t matter whether Oberweis knew of the subcontractor’s activities or not, he’s still liable. The statute deliberately defines “employer” broadly to include the end employer, Williams said.
Williams and Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the immigration group, showed video of the two workers cleaning at the Oberweis stores and identified some of the other people in the stores as Oberweis employees.
Oberweis is running second in polls in the Republican primary to front-runner Judy Baar Topinka. Hoyt denied that the timing of the press conference had anything to do with Topinka’s announcement Monday that she’ll almost definitely run for the office.
They said the delay between filing the complaint Thursday and holding a press conference Tuesday was due to Ramirez and Ibarra taking time to decide if they wanted to do it. Although complainants in human rights cases typically aren’t deported as those cases are going on, there is no legal guarantee Ramirez and Ibarra won’t be deported as a result of coming forward, Williams said.
By Rob Olmstead and Tona Kunz
Daily Herald Staff Writers
Posted Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Gubernatorial candidate Jim Oberweis was accused Tuesday of talking out of both sides of his mouth — railing against illegal immigration while having his Arlington Heights, Hoffman Estates and Schaumburg stores cleaned at subminimum wage by those same illegal immigrants.
“He says that we should not be here, but then he hires us, abuses us and gets rich off our work,” said Rosa Ramirez, 41, at a press conference put on by Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.
Ramirez was referring to a campaign advertisement Oberweis aired in the 2004 campaign for U.S. Senate in which he said he would move to stem the tide of 10,000 illegal immigrants entering the country each day. Oberweis has not made immigration reform a part of his gubernatorial campaign.
Ramirez and Jorge Ibarra, 35, said an Oberweis subcontractor stiffed them in May out of promised pay of $700 a month each for about 100 hours of work each and instead gave her and Ibarra just $350 each or $3.50 an hour, well below the federal minimum wage of $5.15 an hour and Illinois’ minimum wage of $6.50.
Oberweis immediately denied any knowledge of the activities of the subcontractor.
Jim Oberweis
“Oberweis Dairy has never knowingly employed illegal aliens, and if it were discovered that an illegal alien were employed, to the degree legally possible, that person’s employment would be terminated,” a news release said.
That subcontractor, identified as Patmar Janitorial Service by the immigration group, did not return phone calls.
Oberweis accused the immigration group — which had strongly criticized his Senate campaign ads — of sandbagging him and questioned why they didn’t approach him with a phone call instead of a press conference.
“This smear campaign initiated by the proponents of illegal immigration is politics at its worst. This is why good people do not want to be involved in politics,” said Oberweis in a prepared release.
Still, at a press conference Tuesday afternoon at his dairy in North Aurora, he vowed to get to the bottom of the mess.
Tony Crement, labor attorney for Oberweis Dairy, said he talked to Patmar and was told Ramirez and Ibarra are not its employees. Patmar told Oberweis the company doesn’t recognize the names or faces.
“We don’t know who is telling the truth and who is lying here,” Oberweis said. “We are taking the first steps. It will be dealt with.”
Chris Williams, an attorney for the Chicago Workers’ Collaborative Legal Clinic, who helped the two workers file a complaint Thursday with the Illinois Department of Labor, said it doesn’t matter whether Oberweis knew of the subcontractor’s activities or not, he’s still liable. The statute deliberately defines “employer” broadly to include the end employer, Williams said.
Williams and Joshua Hoyt, executive director of the immigration group, showed video of the two workers cleaning at the Oberweis stores and identified some of the other people in the stores as Oberweis employees.
Oberweis is running second in polls in the Republican primary to front-runner Judy Baar Topinka. Hoyt denied that the timing of the press conference had anything to do with Topinka’s announcement Monday that she’ll almost definitely run for the office.
They said the delay between filing the complaint Thursday and holding a press conference Tuesday was due to Ramirez and Ibarra taking time to decide if they wanted to do it. Although complainants in human rights cases typically aren’t deported as those cases are going on, there is no legal guarantee Ramirez and Ibarra won’t be deported as a result of coming forward, Williams said.
Jim Oberweis
Let me give you some background info.
During the Illinois governor races last election, this douche ran a whole bunch of ads saying America was being overrun with illegal immigrants. They were really absurd ads too. One of them was hilarious. It said something like "enough illegals to fill Soldier Field (Bears stadium) come across our borders every 4 hours"
This guy is a total racist and xenophobe.
So naturally I find it hilarious that it is discovered that illegals are working in his stores.
ahhhh yesss..... the sweet smell of hypocrisy!!!
did he know about the illegals working in his stores?
I can't say for sure...
but as the head of the company, he is responsible for such things...
regardless of his ignorance, this guy is a douche and he is getting exactly what he deserves
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