For Immediate Release:
Brandworkers International

Contact: press (at) brandworkers.org

Celebrated Thai restaurant is the latest to drop Wild Edibles until it settles a year-long dispute with workers


August 7, 2008

New York, NY- Kittichai, the popular Thai restaurant in Soho, has stopped serving seafood from wholesaler and retailer, Wild Edibles, Inc. over concern for employee rights.  Wild Edibles workers and their allies have been campaigning for almost a year to reclaim stolen overtime pay; to compel compliance with workplace laws including the right to support a labor union; and to win a more livable wage as well as a health care and retirement plan.

"With Kittichai, thirty-four of New York's most well-regarded restaurantshave stopped serving Wild Edibles seafood," said Raymundo Lara Molina, one of eleven Wild Edibles employees fired or forced out in retaliation for asserting their rights.  "When will Wild Edibles see the writing on the wall and accept a just resolution of this dispute?"

From The Providence Journal

By David Scharfenberg

Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE — A year after a confrontation with police officers in North Providence left her with severe leg injuries, union organizer Alexandra Svoboda arrived at a rally yesterday with a cane, a knee brace and a message of defiance.

“This is the true spirit of resistance,” she said. “This is people saying, ‘no.’ ”

Svoboda, secretary of the Providence branch of the Industrial Workers of the World, was among a group of protesters who clashed with the police Aug. 11, 2007, while marching on Jacky’s Galaxie, a pan-Asian restaurant on Mineral Spring Avenue.

Union members were targeting Jacky’s because the eatery purchased rice and takeout containers from Dragon Land Trading, a restaurant supply company in Queens, N.Y., with a reputation for treating its employees poorly.

For Immediate Release:
Brandworkers International
press (at) brandworkers.org

Tavern on the Green Stops Serving Wild Edibles Seafood Over Workers' Rights Concerns

Legendary Central Park restaurant is the latest to drop Wild Edibles until it settles a year-long dispute with workers

August 11, 2008

New York, NY- Tavern on the Green, one of the nation's highest-grossing restaurants, has stopped serving seafood from wholesaler and retailer, Wild Edibles, Inc. over concern for employee rights. Wild Edibles workers and their allies have been campaigning for almost a year to reclaim stolen overtime pay; to compel compliance with workplace laws including the right to support a labor union; and to win a more livable wage as well as a health care and retirement plan.

Immigrant Workers Seeking a Better Future for their Families Score Victory.

From the Industrial Worker, June 2008

Since the IWW Industrial Union 460 began organizing in foodstuffs warehouses 3 years ago, we’ve organized in ten workplaces with varying degrees of success. One issue at every shop has been the employer’s failure to comply with wage and hour laws.

Many companies have retaliated by firing workers for their union activity. Workers have fought back through strikes, pickets, demonstrations, and selective legal action, among other tactics. We find legal action to be most effective when combined with these other methods, and when viewed as a means and not an end. This is a report on our legal status, but readers should understand that legal action is one of many tools workers are using to win their demands.

About a year and a half after we began utilizing legal action, several favorable rulings have recently come down and several settlements have been reached. Since the rulings have just came down, companies have not yet begun making payments.

288 Sholes Street