Tempers rise as protesters turn the heat on local bakery
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SEATTLE - A local bakery that has done business in Rainier Valley for 90 years is suddenly finding itself at the center of a heated dispute.
Dozens of protesters showed up at the business Saturday to support a former worker who claims the bakery owner owes her years of back pay.
Other counter-protesters and loyal customers were also there - to rally behind the popular business and show their support.
It's a heated issue that has tempers rising in front of the long-time bakery - but the attention is also bringing in more dough.
Borracchini's Bakery was so crowded on Saturday that owner Remo Borracchini called in several of his grandchildren to help his 30 workers take orders.
All the media coverage over the angry former employee may have helped the 90-year-old business see a spike in sales.
It all came about like this:
Borracchini says his customers have become like family - so when he started to get complaints that a nine-year employee was being rude to customers, he decided to let her go.
But not long after he let the woman go, she showed up at the bakery with a group of more than 50 people.
The demonstrators marched inside the small shop and delivered Borracchini a letter that demanded he pay his former worker $7,901. That protest was caught on surveillance video.
The employee, Gladys Bonilla, claims she was forced to work through her breaks and is owed thousands of dollars in back pay.
Borracchini says he would pay Bonilla - if her claims were legitimate.
But with Bonilla still empty-handed, the protesters returned again Saturday. And so did bakery supporters.
"She took paid breaks 'cause I took them with her," one supporter of the bakery told the protesters. "So you guys have no evidence, you have no ground."
Seattle police officers arrived to keep things in order.
Inside the bakery, Borracchini said he's actually not angry.
"It's mind-boggling, you know," he says. "I don't know what else to say."
Yet, protesters say they'll continue to fight.
"We're here till we see justice done," says Micheal Reagan of the Seattle Solidarity Network. "So it's up to Borracchini's Bakery to do the right thing."
But Borracchini says the protesters don't know what they're talking about.
"If they choose to stand out there and lie, then I can't do anything about it," he says. "It's freedom of the press, to express themselves. God bless 'em."
The protesters say other former workers also wrote letters - saying they didn't get breaks either. Borracchini says the claims simply aren't true.
Dozens of protesters showed up at the business Saturday to support a former worker who claims the bakery owner owes her years of back pay.
Other counter-protesters and loyal customers were also there - to rally behind the popular business and show their support.
It's a heated issue that has tempers rising in front of the long-time bakery - but the attention is also bringing in more dough.
Borracchini's Bakery was so crowded on Saturday that owner Remo Borracchini called in several of his grandchildren to help his 30 workers take orders.
All the media coverage over the angry former employee may have helped the 90-year-old business see a spike in sales.
It all came about like this:
Borracchini says his customers have become like family - so when he started to get complaints that a nine-year employee was being rude to customers, he decided to let her go.
But not long after he let the woman go, she showed up at the bakery with a group of more than 50 people.
The demonstrators marched inside the small shop and delivered Borracchini a letter that demanded he pay his former worker $7,901. That protest was caught on surveillance video.
The employee, Gladys Bonilla, claims she was forced to work through her breaks and is owed thousands of dollars in back pay.
Borracchini says he would pay Bonilla - if her claims were legitimate.
But with Bonilla still empty-handed, the protesters returned again Saturday. And so did bakery supporters.
"She took paid breaks 'cause I took them with her," one supporter of the bakery told the protesters. "So you guys have no evidence, you have no ground."
Seattle police officers arrived to keep things in order.
Inside the bakery, Borracchini said he's actually not angry.
"It's mind-boggling, you know," he says. "I don't know what else to say."
Yet, protesters say they'll continue to fight.
"We're here till we see justice done," says Micheal Reagan of the Seattle Solidarity Network. "So it's up to Borracchini's Bakery to do the right thing."
But Borracchini says the protesters don't know what they're talking about.
"If they choose to stand out there and lie, then I can't do anything about it," he says. "It's freedom of the press, to express themselves. God bless 'em."
The protesters say other former workers also wrote letters - saying they didn't get breaks either. Borracchini says the claims simply aren't true.
