NMASS | National Mobilization Against SweatShops
 

The Justice Will Be Served! Campaign
Sponsored by: Chinese Staff & Workers Association * National Mobilization Against Sweatshops * 318 Restaurant Workers Union
Celebrating 10 years

August 20, 2007

Dear Friends,

We are writing to report back important victories and to ask for your continuing support for the Justice Will Be Served! Campaign. Please note that evening pickets at Saigon Grill will change, as of this Wednesday August 22nd, from 5:30-7:30 to 6:30-8:30pm (click here for the full, updated schedule).

  • Later this month, the National Labor Relations Board will file a complaint against Saigon Grill Restaurant owners, for labor law violations- firing all delivery workers and shutting down their delivery business when workers attempted to unionize.
  • Delivery workers from two well-known restaurants- Tang's Pavilion and Our Place Restaurant both in midtown Manhattan- have recently won settlements for significant amounts with their owners.
  • At the end of July this year, the first group of Latino delivery workers sued their workplace, Flor de Mayo restaurant in uptown Manhattan. Along with National Mobilization Against Sweatshops, these workers are organizing other Latino delivery workers, starting a new wave in this movement.
  • In Manhattan, more than 100 delivery workers from restaurants such as Saigon Grill, Ollies, Our Place, Republic, Rosie & Ting, and Flor de Mayo, among others, have already sued their owners and galvanized around the struggle at Saigon Grill.
  • In less than five months, many restaurants in Manhattan have doubled wages and shortened working hours for delivery workers, giving them more time for their families, control of their health and their lives.
  • In May 2007 over 200 NYC college students from Columbia University, NYU, New School University, Hunter College, and Sarah Lawrence University, conducted a sit-in protest inside Saigon Grill restaurant to support NYC delivery workers.

At a time when national politics is dividing workers and worsening working conditions for everyone, the Saigon Grill picket line is uniting people in NYC across different trades and communities, turning this local struggle into a nationwide example for a new labor movement.

We thank you for your support and hope to soon celebrate these victories with you!

Sincerely,

Josephine Lee

JWBS! Campaign Coordinator


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