Crust busts
4 protested at fed-hit bakery
POLICE ARRESTED four activists who cuffed themselves to a Queens bakery truck Friday in support of immigrant workers who lost their jobs there.
The two men and two women attached themselves to the undercarriage of the delivery vehicle outside the Tom Cat Bakery on 10th St. near 43rd Ave. in Long Island City at about 4:30 a.m.
No actual employees of Tom Cat Bakery were arrested.
A Queens nonprofit organization that says it is advocating on behalf of the workers — 14 of whom officially became unemployed Friday — organized the protest.
The uproar at Tom Cat Bakery began last month when the employer said the Department of Homeland Security initiated a 1-9 audit and identified 26 immigrant workers who had to show proof they can legally work in the U.S.
Four immediately produced the correct papers, according to the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union that reps the employees at Tom Cat.
Two quit and found work elsewhere, the union said.
Another five signed off on a severance package negotiated by the union, which gave them six months to find the right paperwork and return to the job — with no loss of seniority.
If they failed to pass DHS muster in six months, Tom Cat promised one week’s pay for every year of service, plus cashed-out sick, holiday and vacation days and health care for 90 days.
The remaining 15 workers have yet to take the deal — but Tom Cat was leaving the offer on the table for a few more days, said BCTGM Local 53 president Joyce Alston.
“I’m proud of the workers who showed up today to do their job and who got the product out,” said Alston. “This is an unhappy situation for everyone.”