Nikki Zeichner

Why is it News when Restaurant Workers Protest?

Anthony Ramirez of the New York Times reported last week that restaurant workers were locked out of an Upper West Side restaurant after protesting against working conditions and refusing to sign what they called an illegal contract stating that they earned $7.15 /hour when in fact they often earned less than $2/hour. The article profiles one restaurant employee in particular, a 23 year old deliveryman from Fujian, China, with limited English proficiency. After he was robbed at gunpoint while on the job, the restaurant owners required that he pay them back the $300 that was stolen from him. In protest of all these injustices, 30 workers picketed outside with placards.

Why is this news though? How often do we see picketers accompanied by larger-than-life rats blown up in front of businesses that have somehow wronged their workers? What's so special about another protest?

This protest was special because it's rare for us to see restaurant workers organize. Though arguments have been made that unionization would be good for owners and workers alike, the vast majority of restaurants in the City are currently non-union, and restaurant workers who protest have few places to turn for support. Restaurant workers who protest face losing their jobs and possibly worse retaliatory threats, such as that of deportation.

There is dramatic disparity in the way that restaurants run their businesses in this city; among a majority of exploitative establishments, there are restaurants that are taking the higher road. Through working with Wage to Live (as well as by working in the industry) I've come to know a good number of restaurant owners that are taking care of their workers by providing health benefits, paid sick leave, and opportunities for promotion. Wage to Live is working on helping consumers identify these restaurants so that they can support them. But in the mean time, there's not really any way of knowing which restaurants are looking out for their workers. And as such, it's easy for employers to justify cutting corners. Like, encouraging their employees to sign illegal contracts as discussed in Ramirez's article.

And, if I were 23 years old and I couldn't fully communicate in English, would I have the courage to picket outside of my workplace? I'm not sure: as things currently exist in the industry, I imagine I'd feel that I'd have too much to lose. I'd feel as though I'd be on my own with little or no backing. I'd be too afraid.

Perhaps that's why this protest by restaurant workers was so newsworthy.

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Posted at 1:17 PM, Mar 12, 2007 in
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