Underpaid Workers to Serve Boss with Class-Action Lawsuit
Submitted on Tue, 12/26/2006 - 4:57pm
Who:
Current and former employees of Giant Big Apple Beer, Ltd., all Latino immigrants.
Where:
Giant Big Apple Beer Ltd.
32-31 57th St.
Woodside, New York, 11377
Phone: (718) 545-9400
CEO Sunny Paek
What:
Protest and press conference; service of lawsuit papers
When:
Tuesday, 26 December 2006
8:00 a.m. - Protest and service of lawsuit papers
8:30 a.m. - Press conference
Why:
Workers at Giant Big Apple work long hours for less than the legal minimum wage, without overtime pay. Fed up with this exploitation, they approached the Industrial Workers of the World and Make the Road By Walking, a Latino community organization based in Bushwick, Brooklyn. With the help of the IWW and Make the Road, they filed a wage & hour complaint with the U. S. Department of Labor in fall of 2005. As far as the workers know, this complaint has not resulted in any action by the DOL and they allege that their boss continues to violate State and federal wage laws. As a result, the workers consulted labor attorney Stuart Lichten of Schwartz, Lichten & Bright, P.C., with whose help they have filed a class action against Giant Big Apple on behalf of all present and former employees of the company.
The Industrial Workers of the World, a democratic, member-run labor union, is supporting the Giant Big Apple workers, and will stage a protest rally in front of Giant Big Apple when the suit papers are served. A number of Giant Big Apple's workers have joined the union and organizing efforts at the beer distributorship are continuing.
Giant Big Apple employs approximately 19 workers. Seven current employees and nine former employees have joined the class-action lawsuit.