Rolling band of protesters seeks justice for immigrants By Mathhew Verrinder PASSAIC, New Jersey (AP) - Mexican immigrant Jose Teyssier said his boss cheated him out of $2,200 (euro1,713) for 22 days of work putting shingles and siding on houses. So a frustrated Teyssier, 38, got a little help from his friends. About 25 members of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) squeezed into a small white bus with Teyssier and went to his boss' home in Passaic, demanding that Teyssier be paid. The boss was not home, but an ACORN organizer, Damaris Rostran, reached him on his cell phone and received a promise that Teyssier would get his back wages on June 1. ’And we're going back there June 1 to make sure he gets paid," said Kate Atkins, another ACORN organizer, before hopping back on the aging bus. The rolling band of protesters made five other stops around northern New Jersey, demanding that immigrant workers, some undocumented and others in this country legally, be paid for their work. Other stops included Passaic, Paterson and Haledon on behalf of seven other workers who claim they were bilked out of a combined $9,150 by contractors or other employers. After protesting on behalf of Teyssier, they went to a packing plant in Passaic to support five female workers who claimed they were owed $5,000 in overtime. After the protesters chanted for justice in a darkened hallway outside the manager's office, the police showed up and told them that if they did not leave they will be arrested for trespassing. Undaunted, they left the plant, quickly filed back onto the bus and headed off to confront another contractor. ’You have to keep the pressure on them to get workers paid," Atkins said. ’Immigrant workers have so few rights and are so easily intimidated by the employer that if they try to demand the money on their own, it's too easy for the employer to ignore them." ACORN is an activist organization that campaigns on behalf of low- and moderate-income families for better housing, health care and working conditions.

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