07/29/03: Post by Bob
Posted by: BLOWBACK
From http://www.workersolidarity.org/Boycott David's Jade Palace Restaurant!Background A group of Chinese workers are protesting against sweatshop conditions in a Westchester County, New York resturant. The workers got fired after they tried to join the 318 Restaurant Workers union, an independent self-managed union that was started in New York City's Chinatown over twenty years ago. The local town police have not been allowing the workers to picket on the little island in front of the restaurant. The workers havebeen forced to stand literally in the gutter of a main street, in the midst of speeding traffic! Text of leaflet being distributed by resturant workers at David's Jade Palace: Owner David Ng Fosters Sweatshop Workplace ConditionsDear Customers: We ask you to boycott David¹s Jade Palace Restaurant. In a time when the economy is weak and life for restaurant workers is tough, conditions at David¹s Jade Palace Restaurant could not be worse. Our boss¹ greed knows no limit and crosses the boundaries of human decency and labor laws. Restaurant owner, David Ng, is sadistic: He forces us to work 12 hours a day, six days a week and pays us only $350 a month. Provides no break time except a 10-minute break to eat Cheats us of 7.65 percent of our tips claiming that it is for taxes but does not pay these monies to the IRS. Takes great joy in punishing people, often boasting that in just two years he has fired over 200 waiters and busboys. He also brags that he knows the police and therefore can run his sweatshop however way he wants. The working conditions inside the restaurant were so abusive that we had to take action by filing a lawsuit and petitioning to join a union. In retaliation, our sweatshop boss fired all the waiters who dared to speak against the illegal and abusive conditions. We demand to be reinstated under fair and legal working conditions and ask you to help us by boycotting the restaurant. Sincerely, Waiters of David¹s Jade Palace Restaurant David¹s Jade Palace Restaurant is located at: 156 S. Central Park AvenueHartsdale, NY 10530Tel: (914) 288-8008 Please contact us about Picket times, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays! Postscript:Solidarity donations are urgently needed. Your check or money order (US dollars only) should be made out to: NMASS or National Mobilization Against Sweatshops and then earmarked for Justice Will Be Served or David's Jade Palace. Please send your donation to: NMASSPost Office Box 130293New York, New York 10013-0995 USAwww.NMASS.orgnmass@yahoo.comFor more information please contact the Justice Will Be Served Campaign, a service workers campaign of the NMASS (National Mobilization Against Sweatshops) (917) 734-3907.