Ten immigrant workers say they were fired and threatened with eviction from their employer-provided housing earlier this week after asking for a wage increase at Lamell Lumber Corporation.

On Friday morning, several of the workers and around two dozen supporters staged a protest at the company’s Essex sawmill.

“We’re saying we’re willing to go back to work if we get the raise and the improvements in housing that we’ve demanded,” said Nerio Jimenez, one of the workers, who spoke on behalf of the group. His comments were translated to English by Will Lambek of the nonprofit advocacy group Migrant Justice...

Jimenez, originally from Mexico, has worked at Lamell for three years, he said Friday. He has held several positions at the company, and most recently worked as a “stacker,” a job that involves moving lumber on a forklift.

He received a wage increase about a year into working at Lamell, from $13 an hour to $16, he said. Afterward, the company indicated to him and other workers that another raise would follow after a training period, he said. According to Jimenez, that raise never materialized.

Lamell Lumber Corporation did not respond to requests for an interview on Friday...

The workers had repeatedly asked a representative from their labor brokerage company, New York-based Agri-Placement Services, Inc., when they would receive a raise. During a recent monthly meeting, the representative indicated that “the raise isn’t going to happen,” Jimenez said. The company did not respond to a request for an interview on Friday...