Corporations Were Prepared for Immigrant Rallies

May 1, 2006 — -- From the orange groves of Florida to high-rise hotels in Manhattan, the pro-immigrant rallies and boycotts planned for today have caused many companies to examine their policies and attitudes toward their work forces.

But will the protests in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and elsewhere have a lasting effect? In spite of the nationwide attention the protests have garnered, most economists expect few significant tremors from the work slowdown.

"Certainly, I wouldn't think it would be more than a blip for the overall economy," said Ben Hermalin, economist at the University of California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business.

"It will have a bigger impact on industries that might have a larger immigrant worker base -- things like the construction industry, and maybe agriculture, where a one-day work stoppage could have a bigger effect," said Hermalin.

According to the Pew Hispanic Center, unauthorized immigrants make up 24 percent of all workers employed in farming occupations, 14 percent in construction and 12 percent in food preparation.

"Some individual businesses will see some lost businesses, some lost sales, but personally I don't think it will have much of an impact on consumers at all. They'll just go shopping tomorrow, or they shopped on Sunday," Hermalin added.

Goya Foods, a multinational food company based in Secaucus, N.J., has suspended deliveries throughout the country in recognition of the boycott. The company, started in 1936 by immigrants from Spain, sells Latino food products from the Caribbean, Spain and Latin America.

Other large corporations, like hotel giant Marriott International, have decided to address the call for a boycott case by case. "Requests for the day off we're having handled by the property manager," said Matthew Carroll, spokesman for Marriott International.

There are no reports of large-scale work stoppages or shutdowns at Marriott properties, Carroll noted. "Things are operating as business as usual," he said.