 |
|
July 15, 2006
RETAIL WORKERS, NEIGHBORHOOD SHOPPERS AND CHURCHGOERS WILL HOLD PROTESTS
Contact: Nieves Padilla: 718.418.7690 x208 or 718.717.5585 (cell); Andrew Friedman: 718.418-7690 x206 or 718.809.7158 (cell)
For Immediate Release
In escalation of community uproar over supermarkets' failure to comply with labor law, scores of retail workers, neighborhood shoppers and community churchgoers will hold protests in front of both a Bushwick supermarket that owes their workers over a million dollars in illegally withheld back wages and overtime pay, and an East NY supermarket that has similar labor violations and is connected to the Bushwick market.
Some workers from both stores receive no pay at all for their work, just tips. Both African-American and Latino workers suffer similar labor abuses.
The Despierta (Wake up!) Bushwick Campaign has already pressured multiple employers to pay over $600,000 dollars in back wages to immigrant workers. The campaign was launched by the Workers in Action Project at Make the Road by Walking.
Community members announce that they continue to gather worker testimony to supplement a labor complaint with Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office
What:
Latino workers, consumers, congregants, and community based organizations will unite to decry illegal sweatshop working conditions and will call for living wages and improved working conditions for Associated Supermarket workers. The Despierta Bushwick Campaign is an innovative campaign to demand decent working conditions for Bushwick's retail workers.
Who:
Make the Road by Walking, scores of Bushwick consumers
When and Where:
Saturday, July 15th
5:30 pm at 229 Knickerbocker Avenue, in front of Associated Supermarket, at Starr Street
7 pm at 1115 Pennsylvania Avenue, in front of Pioneer Supermarket
More on: Workplace Justice 
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 Historic Paid Sick Days Victory in NYC!New York City just became the largest city in the U.S.to win paid sick days! On May 8, 2013, the City Council passed legislation to require paid sick days for one million New Yorkers. Without this critical legal protection, workers risk losing their jobs for taking a sick day. When workers go in to work sick, they put the public and their co-workers at risk of disease.
Starting April 2014, all workers will be protected from being fired if they must take a sick day to care for themselves or a sick family member, and workers at larger employers will receive 5 paid days of sick leave each year.
This major workplace justice and public health victory is the product of a four-year campaign led by courageous workers and small businesses who stood up for what’s right. We thank our partners at the Working Families Party, the NYS Paid Family Leave Coalition, SEIU 32BJ, the Progressive Caucus, Speaker Quinn and Council Members Brewer and Ferreras, for standing with us for NYC’s workers. 
|
|
|
