Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Flushing workers protest against restaurant owner

From the Times Ledger:

A Flushing businessman with about a dozen restaurants, karaoke bars, nail salons and other businesses throughout New York City came under heavy fire during a protest Tuesday afternoon in front of his Chao Zhou Restaurant in the heart of downtown Flushing.

The protest, which drew several dozen people together on the street next to the eatery at 40-52 Main St., was aimed at exposing what former workers and representatives of the Justice Will Be Served Campaign labor advocacy group said are the unlawful labor practices used at Tse Yue Wang’s string of businesses.

Workers at Chao Zhou declined to comment and could not provide contact information for Wang Tuesday afternoon. Wang’s lawyer, Joe Labuda, did not return a request for comment.

A group of workers and former workers of Wang’s recently filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court against Wang, a number of his shops and several of his employee supervisors.

The complaint alleges Wang paid workers less than minimum wage, that he failed to provide overtime pay and that when workers at several of his businesses — including Tomo Sushi and Sake Bar in Morningside Heights in Manhattan — attempted to organize for their rights, he shuttered the shops and fired all the employees.

Now he has applied for bankruptcy protection as a way to avoid his responsibilities, the suit alleges.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awww, poor little Tse Yue. You aint in commie land anymore, asshole.

Babs said...

GOOD for these workers to be protesting against this pig!

Anonymous said...

Most asians have a really good work ethic (unlike some other races), so I see no problem for this. I wish them good luck.

Anonymous said...

Some days you don't want the laws enforced (immigration, building codes, cleanliness standards for restaurants) and some days you want the laws enforced (min. wage, working conditions) Please, make up your mind and get back to us.

Anonymous said...

Some races are more equal than others.

Anonymous said...

Bilked by their own kind!

Anonymous said...

Yes, indeed...."BILKED BY THEIR OWN KIND"!

Julia Harrison was ahead of her time for bravely speaking that particular truth....for which the Staviskys had her crucified!

Anonymous said...

what is the "JUSTICE WILL BE SERVED CAMPAIGN" labor advocacy group?

who organizes them?
who finances them?
are they a wing of ACORN,WORKING FAMILIES PARTY,S.E.I.U union?

get the information before making any conclusions.
is the group pro-illegal alien law breakers?
many may have come across the Arizona border and made it to" sanctuary city on the sound".

is the restaurant owner guilty of hiring illegal aliens which is a violation of federal law ?
if so ? the chickens have come home to roost.

Liman said...

Justice Will Be Served is one of a series of union front groups. Probably the Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees (HERE). In these shops, typically, all labor laws are violated. But the employees aren't legal either. Make the place union, and it can't survive.

Anonymous said...

"Yes, indeed...."BILKED BY THEIR OWN KIND"!"

And you're saying this doesn't happen with every ethnicity. Madoff sure made off with a lot of rich white folks money.

John from Conn said...

Lino, is this one of yours?

Lino said...

"Liman said...
Justice Will Be Served is one of a series of union front groups. Probably the Hotel Employees Restaurant Employees (HERE). In these shops, typically, all labor laws are violated. But the employees aren't legal either. Make the place union, and it can't survive"

it doesn't have to be union, to be fair.

We have hired -dozens- of workers from these sorts of places. They all tell of 12-15 hour days (nights) chiseling on tips, filthy conditions etc.

This is nothing new. Back in the early 60's my parents used to take me to a Chinese restaurant in the Village. Over time the staff became friendly and told us about how life was working there...same as today.


Oddly, conditions in places such as Bangkok are slowly improving due to the huge influx of western chains and the trashy mom&pop slave ships must now compete for workers.

Anonymous said...

But Madoff doesn't live in Flushing.
Flushing is known internationally as "Little Taipei" not "Little Israel".

The Chinese have an old saying:
"The mountains are high and the emperor is far away".

Translation:
"Screw (bilk) your own kind...especially if nobody's looking or gives a damn.
They're the easiest marks"!