 Moon
Tong Leurng is a deep-voiced man of few words. "If workers
don't fight," he sayss, "we have no say." He
and other members of 318 Restaurant Workers Union, New York's
Chinatown's only independent restaurant workers union, have
won a major battle at the Silver Palace Restaurant not only
fighting for their jobs and better conditions, but ousting its
notoriously abusive owner/manager, Richard Chan and his cronies.
For five years nonstop Tong and other workers withstood repeated
threats, firings and abusive conditions to picket Silver Palace
three days a week and demand the right to say "no"
to long hours, stolen tips and other sweatshop conditions.
When a court forced management to rehire them these fighters
went back to work and continued to picket on off-hours withstanding
intense pressure under management's heel. Their actions inspired
many others in the NY-NJ area to stand up against sweatshop
conditions and led to formation of Justice Will be Served,
a campaign for all service workers.
In 1997 Silver Palace closed and reopened as "New"
Silver Palace. Since then the restaurant has continuously
violated labor laws, targeted and discriminated against union
workers, stolen workers' tips and withheld wages. The National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB) successfully brought charges
against management, going to court and demanding Silver Palace
compensate workers $4.5 million in back pay. The NYS Attorney
General brought a criminal case against the owners and managers
for non-payment of wages. In 2000 the workers filed a RICO
case against the bosses, the first time that RICO, an anti-racketeering
law used against organized crime, has been used against a
restaurant. Due to overwhelming evidence, before the hearing
the judge issued a summary decision that even if Silver Palace
files for bankruptcy some owners and managers must pay part
of the workers' back wages out of personal assets.
 The
bosses are unrepentant. They changed the restaurant's name
four times to try to escape accountability, to bring in business
and drag this fight out. Most recently owner/manager Richard
Chan attempted to collude with Joseph Chu, the building's
landlord and the owner of Eastbank which made loans to the
restaurant. The two worked out a scheme where the restaurant
would declare bankruptcy and then give all the stolen tip
money to Chu as payment for rent and loans, leaving workers
with nothing.
This time, however, the workers turned the tables and put
Richard Chan out on the street for good. In October a NYS
bankruptcy judge ruled against Silver Palace's attempt to
file for bankruptcy and ordered its current management - including
Richard Chan -- removed. A court-appointed trustee is in charge
until the restaurant pays off its creditors. This victory
was made possible only by the common ground the workers found
with hundreds of working people and with organizations over
the years that participated in the picket and boycott.
Unfortunately, the bankruptcy court is allowing landlord
Chu to sell the lease to the buyer of his choice. The fight
for reinstatement and compensation continues, but now 318
and NMASS must hold Chu accountable. Guo Chiang Liang, a 318
leader and Silver Palace worker explains that Chu, like many
landlords in Chinatown, has been taking under-the-table money
from management for years. "It's been coming from our
tips," says Liang. "All that sweatshop money is
in Joseph Chu's hands. We must make an example of New Silver
Palace."
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