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"LOWER EAST SIDE - NOT FOR SALE" Newsletter
English | Spanish

On June 1, 2009 more than 100 members of NMASS and the Coalition to Protect Chinatown/LES protested at the first Chinatown Working Group Town Hall Meeting. We demanded an end to the exclusion and displacement of low-income Latinos and African Americans. Read more.

NMASS - Who We Are

We organize as workers -- native-born and immigrant; documented and undocumented; from all backgrounds and walks of life -- against sweatshop conditions like long hours and for control of our lives

Since 1996 NMASS (National Mobilization Against Sweatshops) has been having a national impact through our local organizing and national advocacy. In NMASS, workers standing up against brutal conditions -- paid at less than minimum wage, no overtime pay, tip stealing, dangerous working conditions like long hours -- have brought to light the fact that sweatshop conditions are not some problem in far away countries, but exist here in our communities. Harder-hit workers - low-income workers, people of color, women and immigrants -- have led the way in this effort, contributing to a movement in the interests of all workers.

We know that sweatshop conditions like long work hours exist in the U.S. and affect all workers, not only low-income people and immigrants.

We demand the right to a 40-hour workweek at a living wage as a human right for all, whether we are employed or working in the home as caregivers.

We demand equal rights for all workers, regardless of race, gender, or immigration status.

We organize where we work and where we live, and fight the racist displacement of low-income workers of color.

We are laying groundwork for a new labor movement aimed at transforming the system according to our collective interests and needs as working people. Read more.

*Pay Your NMASS membership dues online here*

 

Contact NMASS

 

Mail: NMASS P.O. Box 130293, New York, NY 10013-0995

Email: nmass@yahoo.com

Brooklyn Workers Center:
93 Third Avenue (corner of Bergen St.), Brooklyn
Tel: 718-625-9091
Fax: 718-625-8950
Subway: D/M/N/Q/R/2/3/4/5 trains to the Atlantic/ Pacific Subway stop. (map)

Lower East Side Workers Center:
59 Hester Street between Ludlow and Essex, Manhattan
Tel: 212-358-0295
Fax: 212-358-0297
Subway: F train to East Broadway

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Get Involved!
  • Lower East Side - Not For Sale! Wake Up Community! Mayor Bloomberg, with the help of local politicians and so-called community organizations, is pushing racist development plans that threaten to displace all of us -- residents, workers, and small businesses -- unless we stand up against them.... Read more (English) | Spanish
  • Support the workers of Intermezzo, Il Bastardo, and Arte Cafe Restaurants in NYC who were fired for fighting for their rights. The owners forced workers to work up to 78 hours per week. Bosses denied them minimum wages (paying them as little as $3.33/hr), overtime pay, and lunch breaks...Read more.
  • Latina Women Are Standing up Against Exploitation at Kim's Vegetables in NYC and Dana Farms (aka M&S Fresh Market) in NJ - Latina women worked up to 7 days, 84 hours/week, and were paid as little as $2/hour, less than one-third of minimum wage, with no overtime pay after 40 hours and no meal breaks.... Read more.
  • The JWBS! Campaign is calling on you to support beauty salon workers and other service workers in taking action against long hours, health issues and other problems. On June 18, 2009 we will launch a weekly picket in front of Simply Nails (aka Nail Plaza), which has forced women to work long hours, discriminated against and fired women workers who spoke out.... Read more.
  • Domino's Pizza Refuses to Pay Workers OT & Min. Wage - Workers File Class Action Lawsuit Against Nationwide Fast Food Chain. Domino's Pizza forced delivery workers to work over 60 hours per week and refused to pay them overtime and minimum wage laws....Read more.
  • Latina Nail Salon Workers Call for Boycott of Rennaissance Nail Salons in Darien & New Canaan Connecticut. The workers were subjected to sexual harassment, racial discrimination, stolen wages and tips, and other sweatshop conditions...Read more.



News and Events

"First Friday" Party - Karaoke Night! February 5, 7pm at the Brooklyn Workers' Center. Drinks, Food, Singing... Read more [01/31/2010]

Deli Workers Reach Agreement - The workers are no longer picketing or calling for a boycott...Read more. [1/23/2010]

Latino, Chinese, & African-American Working Families Announce Plans for the Rezoning of the Lower East Side and Chinatown. In a press conference on Wednesday, January 20th members of the Chinatown & the Lower East Side community spoke out against the displacement of Latino, Chinese and African-American people....Read more. [1/20/2010]

Friday January 8, 7pm - Kick off the New Year With NMASS - Dance Party Featuring DJ Namsung!...Read more. [12/23/2009]

First Friday December 4, Holiday Party - 7pm at the Lower East Side Workers Center...Read more. [12/01/2009]

First Friday Party Nov. 6 - Celebrate Rising Resistance to Bloomberg's Displacement of People of Color...Read more. [11/01/2009]

October 24 - Screening and Discussion of Political Developments in Venezuela and Ecuador - In light of the latest political developments in Latin America, members of NMASS will present a film and lead a discussion about examples of organizing taking place across the continent...Read more. [10/22/2009]

NMASS & BGZ coalition Urge Congress and President Obama to Pass Comprehensive 9/11 Health Legislation for All Affected - Following the recent deaths of three WTC responders in one week, groups urge Congress and President Obama to pass comprehensive 9/11 health legislation for all affected... Read more. [10/21/2009]

Yoga Classes, Health Classes, and Flea Market Fundraising Events... Read more. [10/15/2009]

Happy Hour Fundraiser Thurs. Oct. 1 2009 at Forbidden City Bar in the East Village - Help NMASS buy our new permanent space for the Lower East Side Workers' Center...Read more. [9/27/2009]

Tues. Aug. 11 - Join the Ain't I a Woman?!? Campaign & Garment Workers in a Protest Against Great Wall Corp. and Sliver Fashion. We Demand Manufacturer Accountability and an End to Retaliation... Read more. [08/10/2009]

NMASS Annual Summer Picnic at Sunken Meadow Park...Read more. [08/02/2009]

Latino Workers Sue Remi Restaurant for Wage Theft - The owners of Remi Restaurant have restaurants around the world, but force workers to work 70-100 hours/week, cheat them of overtime pay and charge them illegal fees... Read more. [6/26/2009]

Community Members & Workers Protest Museum of Chinese in America - Denounce Retaliatory Firing for Unionization and Racist Treatment of Workers like Coolies - On the first day the Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) opens the doors of its new facilities, community members and workers will protest the museum's exploitative working conditions and retaliatory firing...Read more. [6/25/2009]

Support Nail Salon, Deli, and Other workers Fighting Sweatshop Conditions on the Upper West Side - Dear Friends and Supporters, the Justice Will Be Served! Campaign is calling on you to support beauty salon workers and other service workers in taking action against long hours, health issues and other employment problems they face... Read more. [6/16/2009]

Latinos and African-Americans Protest Exclusion by Bloomberg’s Chinatown Working Group from Community Planning - Lower East Side Community Speaks Up Against Displacement - On Monday, June 1st, at 6:30pm over 100 African-Americans, Latinos, NYCHA residents and other members of the Lower East Side community protested their exclusion by Mayor Bloomberg’s Chinatown Working Group... Read more. [06/01/2009]

First Fri., May 8 - Come to a video screening about the May 1 March for Equal Rights for All Workers - Find out how you can be part of a growing working people's movement to Tell President Obama to Repeal the Modern-Day Slave Law (aka, "Employers Sanctions")... Read more. [05/02/2009]

An Open Letter to Barack Obama - Dear President Obama: As you begin to take on the issue of immigration reform, we call on you to provide the leadership necessary to repeal the modern-day slave law that has devastated the lives of so many working people in this country: the Employer Sanctions Provisions... Read more. [05/01/2009]

March on May 1, 2009 - Tell Obama to Repeal the Modern Day Slave Law: Employer Sanctions - Equal Rights for All Workers! - Employers’ sanctions is a law that was passed 20 years ago in the name of punishing the employer, but in reality criminalizes immigrants and creates an underclass of labor who have no rights or protection under the law... Read More. [04/01/2009]

A Message from the JWBS! Campaign Regarding Ollie's Noodles and Sweatshop Conditions on the Upper West Side - Dear Sisters and Brothers... For many years Tsu Y. Wang has profited to the tune of millions of dollars from dozens of restaurants, such as Ollies' Noodle Shop & Grill/ Tomo Sushi/ Vine Sushi (formerly known as Café Swish), among many others.... Although the NY State Department of Labor has taken a good step towards recovering wages, they have only recovered a small percentage of what Wang stole from workers... Read more. [03/21/2009]

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