In Suffolk County, Citizen and Immigrant Workers
Join Together to Demand
Repeal of the Employer Sanctions Law
Press Conference & Rally
Friday, December 14th @ 12PM
IN FRONT OF EAST BUFFET RESTAURANT
179 WALT WHITMAN RD. (RTE. 110), HUNTINGTON STATION
(across from the Walt Whitman Mall, exit 40N Northern State Parkway;
exit 49N LIE)
This Friday East Buffet restaurant workers will be joined by the
JWBS! Campaign and local organizations to demand that the restaurant's
owners reinstate and pay the workers who were fired for protesting
wages of less than $1 an hour and tips stolen by their bosses.
Even before the workers' strike in 2005, East Buffet owners Kan
Pat Kong and Susan Kong were using Employer Sanctions [1] to hire
undocumented workers and force them to accept inhuman working conditions,
cheating both the workers and the government by not paying proper
wages or taxes. The striking workers took the Kong family to court
two years ago, but the government has failed to enforce the labor
and tax laws.
The Kongs have been able to abuse workers and cheat the government
because of Employer Sanctions. For instance, the Kongs intentionally
hired undocumented workers, and provided them with false documents
or asked them to go buy some. The Kongs evade the labor law by threatening
workers that if they speak out against illegal working conditions
they will be fired and replaced by other undocumented workers who
will submit to their threats. These kinds of practices allow the
Kongs to bring down the wages and working conditions, hurting both
citizen and undocumented workers.
East Buffet is an example of what happens a million times each
day across the U. S. Employer Sanctions has undermined security
in our communities because it gives bosses like the Kongs a tool
for expanding illegal, underground activities and sweatshops. Unscrupulous
bosses now have more incentive and power to hire the underclass
of labor with no rights, being able to evade paying billions of
dollars in taxes, and encouraging the proliferation of identity
theft and false documentation.
This Friday the Justice Will be Served! Campaign will demand that
East Buffet reinstate the workers who stood up for their rights,
and pay their back wages and stolen tips. The Campaign will also
called on elected officials to compel government agencies to enforce
the labor law and tax law, and repeal Employer Sanctions.
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[1] Employer Sanctions is a provision of the Immigration Reform
and Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 that called for penalizing employers
that hire undocumented workers, under the guise of protecting American
workers and stopping illegal immigration. In fact, in the last 20
years it has created more incentive for employers to recruit and
hire vulnerable undocumented workers and destroy working and living
conditions for U.S. workers.
Call John or JoAnn the Lower East Side Workers' Center for More
information: 212-358-0295.
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