BY VINAYA SAKSENA

EAST PROVIDENCE — A large crowd of people who had been employed by the Colibri Group until recently showed up at its Fairmount Avenue headquarters Tuesday — even though the facility had been closed for over two weeks.

The former employees were gathered for a demonstration organized by the Central Falls-based labor and immigrant advocacy group Fuerza Laboral (Power of Workers), with the expressed intent of organizing the company’s former employees to advocate for severance pay and benefits they say were not provided to them when the company went into receivership last month. Workers who attended the rally had varying accounts of how and when they found out that their place of employment was closing, but said they clearly remembered Thursday, Jan. 14, the day the facility closed.
“I worked all day on Wednesday,” said Carol LaFazia, a former lighter inspector who was employed with the company for over a decade. “I came here Thursday and it was locked.”
Maureen MacIntyre, a former supervisor who said she had spent 36 years with the company, said she did not come in that day, having learned of the impending shutdown the day before.
However, she said that she, like LaFazia and others, had not been able to find new work as of Tuesday, adding that she had not yet received her first unemployment insurance payment.
“I’ll never forget that day,” MacIntyre said. “Thank God I’m married. Otherwise, I’d probably be living in a cardboard box.”
“My reaction was really not surprise at all, because we could see people being laid off,” said Domenic Fonseca, a maintenance worker of four years. “We knew that the company was facing financial difficulties. It’s one of those tings that you really hope that it never comes. But in today’s world, there is no security.”
Tuesday’s rally drew not only a large crowd of workers, but also a couple of local political figures, who expressed outrage at the non-payment of severance wages and sudden cessation of healthcare coverage that workers had allegedly faced. George Nee, secretary-treasurer of Rhode Island AFL-CIO, said the non-payment was likely “illegal,” citing the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, and commended the workers for standing up for their rights.
“Do not be ashamed,” Nee told the crowd. “They (Colibri) should be ashamed, not you.”
State Senator Juan Pichardo and former Senator Paul Moura also spoke in support of the workers. They, along with Fuerza Laboral Director Greg Pehrson, encouraged those gathered to do everything they could to advocate for themselves, with Pehrson saying the group would be passing out information intended to help with these efforts at the end of the event, including contact information for U.S. Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, and U.S. Representatives Patrick Kennedy and James Langevin.
Moura said that during his time as a state senator, he and other legislators had been asked by Colibri officials to meet with them to discuss ways to keep the company operating in Rhode Island. Moura asked those present if they were aware the company had been considering a move to Worcester, Massachusetts according to what company officials allegedly told him. A few voices heard responding indicated that they had not been aware of this. Moura said he was disappointed to learn that the company had not been as sincere as it had seemed in its desire to stay in Rhode Island.
“I thought they were sincere,” Moura said. “I thought they were a good citizen. Unfortunately, we’ve seen what they’ve turned out to be.”
Attempts to reach Colibri officials for comment had not been successful as of press time.
Attorney Allan Shine, who had been appointed as receiver for Colibri by a Superior Court judge, also spoke at the event, explaining to the former Colibri employees what proceedings may take place in the near future, noting that a deadline- possibly in June- would soon be determined in court for the filing of related complaints.
Following the event, workers conversed and embraced, before leaving the building. Despite their individual difficulties, LaFazia and Fonseca said they were equally concerned for their co-workers.
“I feel bad for the people with small kids,” LaFazia said. “It breaks my heart to see all these people. We had a good time, and we did our job.”
“I just hope that, eventually, they will find a job and God will provide for them,” Fonseca said of his former co-workers. “I think what we need is unity and faith.”