Colibri workers protest auction at closed plant

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I.--Chanting "we'll go away when we get our pay" and carrying signs that read "Rise together, stay together," nearly 200 people, including 50 laid-off workers, picketed and protested outside the local headquarters of Colibri Group on March 19.

The company, a non-union shop and one of the oldest jewelry manufacturers in the state, suddenly and without warning closed its doors on January 15, locking out 280 workers. Colibri's assets were set to be auctioned off on March 19. Fifteen of the protesters were arrested in a civil disobedience action designed to stop the auction.

Shock, disbelief and raw emotions poured from employees on the January morning that they faced the shuttered factory and read a handwritten notice taped to the door that read, "Closed until further notice."

When news of the plant closing and subsequent denial of rights guaranteed to workers under the Federal WARN Act spread through the Rhode Island labor and social justice community, the initial despair turned into anger as the workers became determined to fight for their rights.

The March 19 demonstration was part of a solidarity campaign since then that has included meetings; rallies; a forum featuring Republic Windows workers from Chicago who occupied their factory in a successful protest against the same kind of factory shutdown; and a trip to New York City to confront Colibri's parent company, Founders Equity.

In 2005, three private equity firms, including Founders, bought a controlling interest in Colibri for an undisclosed sum. The company now claims it is bankrupt.

"Today is the auction, and we want our money because what they're saying is the banks are going to get paid first," explained Alda Bonin, a jewelry model maker and former Colibri worker. "But the employees should get paid first.

"Why didn't they tell us? That is the big question. Why did the employees have to wake up that morning, get ready to go to a regular working day, and the doors are locked? All we want is our 60 days pay, and for the people who worked there a long time, severance pay."

Eva Gomez, a native of Puerto Rico who now lives in Providence, gave encouragement to other working people facing a similar situation.

"Get together and stop people from doing this to the workers because it's not right," she said. "We all have rights. I ask all the other workers not to let anybody do this to them. Work together and fight to stop this because it's a shame what they did to us."

Fifty-five-year-old Lesly Remy, who worked at Colibri for 25 years, voiced the anger shared by other workers at the plant. "The new owners treated us like garbage," Remy said. "They threw us out with nothing, no warning, no health care. We're human beings, people with families. What happened to us was wrong. We're here fighting for our rights."

As the protest wrapped up, the crowd chanted, "We'll be back." Bonin thanked the other workers and city supporters for the show of solidarity. "We're united and determined to win," she said. "I'm really proud to have been a part of this."