Workers Picket Wu Liang Ye in Labor Dispute (NYC)

[Renew Deal]

This afternoon, former workers from the now-closed 39th Street and 86th Street branches of Wu Liang Ye picketed in front of the 48th Street restaurant of the same name, which the workers say is owned by their former employers, an assertion the restaurant denies. The dispute is over a lawsuit brought by workers at the 39th Street and 86th Street restaurants, alleging that the restaurants were stealing workers' tips, not paying minimum wage, and breaking overtime laws. On October 8, judge Denny Chin handed down a default judgment against the restaurants, because the defendants, restaurant owners Susan and Jian Li, kept requesting temporary adjournments (delays in trial); the final request was denied, and because the Lis had not shown up for court, the judge ruled that the workers would win damages. By that time, however, the Lis had closed the two locations, putting all the employees there out of work, allegedly as retaliation for the lawsuit.

One of the workers involved in the trial, Jin Ming Cao, said that he had been hired as a waiter by the 39th Street Wu Liang Ye in April 2006. He said that the job paid $300 a month, plus tips, but that credit card tips were docked 10 percent, and that he was forced to work at least 66 hours a week without overtime pay. He says that when the workers started to organize, the restaurant began firing them one by one.

"The wages were too low, it was ridiculous," he said today. So in 2008, employees from both the 39th and 86th Street restaurants went to the Chinese Staff and Workers Association for help, which aided the workers in finding a lawyer and suing the company for back wages.

"They continued to fire us," says Cao, charging that anyone who participated in the lawsuit and organizing was a target as the suit dragged on. It is, of course, illegal to retaliate against workers for unionizing or filing a labor dispute. He also says that the Lis told him they would never hire Fujianese workers again--referring to the Chinese state that most of the Wu Liang Ye workers (and many of the newest Chinese immigrants to New York) are from. "We will win," said Cao. "We will stay here everyday until they come out to sort out this problem."

The Lis still owe back wages and compensation to the workers as a result of the suit: In his ruling on October 8th, Judge Chin wrote: "Defendants, on the eve of the trial, have closed both restaurants that are the subject of this action....The Court will enter a default judgment against defendants. The Court will conduct as inquest to set damages, attorney's fees, and costs."
<snip>

http://blogs.villagevoice.com/forkintheroad/archives/2009/12/workers_picket.php

48th St. Wu Liang Ye Pulled Into Protest
The Rock Center Tree Lighting wasn’t the only thing causing craziness on 48th Street yesterday. Fork in the Road is reporting that disgruntled Wu Liang Ye workers (from the now closed 39th & 86th Street locations) were protesting the branch on 48th btw. 5+6th yesterday. You might remember that back in July these same workers held a demonstration outside the Wu Liang Ye on 39th and 3rd, claiming that the restaurant (along with the 86th Street location) was owned by the Chinese Government and horribly mistreated their employees. In October, a judge ruled that the locations had to pay back wages and compensation to the workers, but those two branches have closed since then- leaving the Wu Liang Ye on 48th Street the only location left to protest in front of (even though 48th Street was excluded from the lawsuit by proving they had a different owner.)

The workers told Fork in the Road they don’t care what the paperwork says, all three Wu Liang Ye locations were opened and run by the same person. If these allegations turn out to be true, it’s hard not to side with underpaid and mistreated workers- but my stomach hopes that the 48th Street location really does have nothing to do with this. Wu Liang Ye serves some of the best Szechuan food in Midtown (a fact that I discovered thanks to Fork in the Road, coincidentally enough.) It looks like Blondie and Brownie agree with me as well. They broke the picket lines yesterday for some Dan Dan Noodles.

http://midtownlunch.com/2009/12/03/48th-st-wu-liang-ye-pulled-into-protest