Wage Theft Activists Celebrate Victories With Protest

Fresh off more victories, activists against wage theft put local businesses on notice that when they fight for workers rights they win.

Members of Unidad Latina en Accion (ULA), New Haven Legal Assistance Association, Worker & Immigrant Rights Advocacy Clinic at Yale Law School,Yale students and community members sent that message as they gathered in front of Atticus Bookstore and Cafe Thursday evening.

They celebrated a federal judge’s most recent ruling for employees of the former Gourmet Heaven. (Read more about that case here, here and here.)

Judge Vanessa Bryant ruled that the workers in that case should be paid at least $175,000 by their former boss for lost wages. She also ruled that workers are constitutionally allowed to organize and that employers are not to retaliate against them for such activity.

“They should not retaliate to the workers when they’re fighting for their rights,” ULA’s John Lugo said of local employers.

“People feel that they can still make their profits on the backs of the workers. In this times we’re asking that the minimum wage to be increased $15 an hour we still see workers making $4 an hour, $7 an hour like at Thai Taste, $4 to $6 an hour at Gourmet Heaven. We as a community, we’re going to stand up and keep fighting for the rights of the worker to be treated as human beings.”

ULA’s Megan Fountain echoed Lugo, saying that the ruling sends the message that workers have the right to organize.

“We have the right to stand up for our human rights and our dignity,” she said. ​“And when employers retaliate against us they will be punished, so don’t even try it.”

James Bhandary-Alexander, staff attorney at New Haven Legal Assistance, called the ruling historic.

“Everybody needs to think about what it means for you,” Bhandary-Alexander said to the crowd. ​“She [the judge] said every person has a constitutional right to participate in community advocacy, specifically she said that every single person here has a constitutional right to participate in Unidad Latina en Accion. So I’m really happy about this. New Haven legal assistance really proud of the work we did, but we’re extremely proud of our clients who were the ones who took all the risks, who made all of the sacrifices along with all of you here.”

The other big news of the day was that Goodfellas, a State Street restaurant that activists have been boycotting since 2011, settled a lawsuit over unpaid minimum wage, unpaid overtime, harassment, bigotry and intimidation with five former workers. And last, and last month, the owner of Thai Taste was ordered to pay workers more than $36,000 to cover two-years of unpaid overtime.

“This is our seventh year protesting Goodfellas,” Fountain said. ​“They are a repeat offender. Why they are not in jail, I don’t know.” She pointed out that the owner of Goodfellas has been sanctioned multiple times by the both the state and federal labor departments. And though the workers have reached a settlement, ULA plans to keep boycotting the restaurant.

“We’re going to continue the boycott against Goodfellas because they are a repeat offender,” Lugo said ​“This guy doesn’t understand that wage theft is a crime. We’re going to continue until he meets with the community, ULA, legal aid, somebody from City Hall and he signs an agreement to stop stealing the wages of his workers.”

The activists chose Atticus as the site of the event Thursday to continue the year-long pressure they’ve been trying to put on the owner of that establishment to pay a severance to Bacilio Santiago commiserate with the more than a decade that he worked there. They claim Santiago was fired after 11 years of work because he advocated against cuts to wages, hours and health care benefits. ULA estimates that he is owed $5,500 in severance pay, but was only offered $1,500.

In response to the allegations made by ULA, Atticus owner, Charlie Negaro, provided the following statement:

“I am writing to respond to the false accusations by ULA. We would like to set the record straight. I would also like to apologize for the disturbance to all of our customers and the New Haven community. We are deeply committed to contributing to a more just and sustainable society and a better New Haven. We feel we are being unfairly targeted by ULA. We are happy to have an open conversation with anyone interested in the truth.

“In November of 2015 we fired an employee for cause. It was a professional, multi-month, fair process. We do not share specific details about our employees, we respect their privacy. We deeply believe our employees are the core of our business and strive to run the best possible organization.

“All of ULA’s claims surrounding his termination are untrue and fabricated. All of their accusations surrounding unfair labor practices are also fabricated. We have a 40 year history of doing right by our employees and community. Forty years of being a social impact business before there was even a name for that.

“For example we have offered health and dental coverage to every employee for over 10 years. We currently cover more than 70% of the premiums and all of the deductible. There hasn’t been a cost increase to our employees for many years; we have always done what we can to absorb it. We feed all of our employees lunch every day of the year. As well as providing many many other benefits. We do the right thing.

​“We know actions speak louder than words. Please look at our record and watch what we do.”