Latino restaurant workers announced on June 16 that they would be filing a federal lawsuit against the owner of Remi, a midtown restaurant that caters to a high-rolling clientele. The workers, speaking through activists from the Chinese Staff and Workers
Association (CSWA), National Mobilization Against Sweatshops, (NMASS) and Justice Will Be Served! Campaign, claimed the restaurant owner owes them for thousands of hours of unpaid overtime. They also charged that the owner of Remi on the grounds that he violated minimum wage laws and credited illegal financial charges to the workers.
Many of the workers standing outside of Remi have worked there for 16 years, and they say the company made them work double shifts six to seven days a week then falsified their pay stubs to reflect only 40 hours. And that's not the worst of it – workers say the restaurant would illegally charge a fee to receive tips.
Several workers say they have suffered health problems because of their long hours.
The coalition supporting the Remi workers have a track record of winning these cases. On March 19, the New York State Department of Labor announced their settlement with the owner of such restaurants as Ollies' Noodle Shop and Grill, Tomo Sushi and Vine Sushi (formerly known as Café Swish) for $2.3 million in back wages for 800 workers.
In the meantime, analysts say things are going to get worse in the workplace for low-wage earners due to the economy. Annette Bernhardt, policy co-director for the National Employment Law Project (NELP), writing for roomfordebate.blogs.nytimes.com, stated the public "should be concerned" that all low-wage workers are vulnerable to abuse in the current recession in the areas of violation of minimum wage and overtime laws.
"Public policy needs to intervene and reestablish workplace protections that were put into place during the last century, such as the minimum wage, overtime pay, health and safety on the job and the right to organize. We need to reinvigorate the U.S. Department of Labor so that it actually does its job," wrote Bernhardt.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer has stepped up to the plate, announcing that starting July 1 and every Friday henceforth, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be a low-wage clinic for immigrant and other low-wage earners at his office in upper Manhattan at 163 West 125th Street, on the fifth floor.
For more information, call (212) 531-1609.
