Press Conference
Tuesday, July 22, 2008 at 12 noon
In front of Renaissance Nail Salon
887 Boston Post Rd., Darien, CT
Latina women who worked at the popular Renaissance nail salons in Darien and New Canaan, Connecticut, will hold a protest and press conference on Tuesday, July 22, at 12 noon. They will demand that Renaissance salon owners Jennifer Kwon, Young Soo Kwon, and Hyeon Lee pay the workers their overtime and minimum wages, as well as compensation for the economic, physical and mental suffering they experienced. The workers will also demand that Renaissance owners publicly apologize, and end the sexual harassment and sweatshop conditions in their salons.
The Latina workers are suing their salon owners for unpaid overtime and minimum wages, as well as the theft of tips. Their employers, who are Korean, discriminated particularly against the Latina workers. For instance, their male employer forced some of the Latina women to massage him and male clients in the back room. He touched them inappropriately every day. When the Latinas tried to eat or use the bathroom, their employers singled them out for harassment, knocking on the bathroom door and calling them back to work. When two of the Latina women requested a day off to care for their sick children, they were fired. And, forced to work long hours, bent over, with no protection from the toxic chemicals, the workers now suffer from respiratory and skin problems. Others have had back pains and kidney infections as a result of their work at the salons.
The Renaissance workers will be joined by other Latino and Asian nail stylists and workers from Connecticut, New York and New Jersey to call for an end to the sweatshop conditions, sexual harassment and racial discrimination in nail salons, and the right of women workers to take care of their health and their family’s health.
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NMASS, P.O. Box 130293, New York, NY 10013-0995; Phone: (212) 358-0295 Email: nmass@yahoo.com | www.nmass.org
JUNTA for Progressive Action, 169 Grand Ave., New Haven, CT 06513, (203) 787-0191, www.juntainc.org
ULA, c/o New Haven People’s Center, 37 Howe St., New Haven, Ct. 06511, (203) 747-4309
Justice Will Be Served Campaign is sponsored by NMASS, Chinese Staff & Workers’ Assn., 318 Restaurant Workers Union
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