In 2008, workers at Indus Valley Restaurant went to the Department of Labor to file complaints about the minimum-wage violations by their employer. Year after year, they called the Department of Labor about their case. Nothing. And they’re not alone–the DOL has 14,000 open cases. Join us at at the protest in front of the DOL on Weds, 6/11, at 9:30am.
6 years later, the Indus Valley workers are still waiting. And their bosses are still not paying the minimum wage. With 14,000 open cases, the NYS Labor Department is now investigating only 3 years instead of the full 6 years back. And the NYS DOL is doing nothing to strengthen laws that allow criminal employers to hide assets to escape responsibility for stolen wages.
No wonder so many employers are not paying the minimum wage! Even when workers go to the NYS Labor Department, nothing happens! If bosses don’t have to pay $8 an hour, what good is an increase if the law is not enforced? We demand an increase in minimum wage—and strengthened enforcement to make it real. Tipped workers must be included.
Cuomo has refused to convene a wage board to increase tipped workers’ wages even after being directed to do so as part of last year’s minimum-wage law.
The Coalition for a Real Minimum Wage Increase joins workers of Indus Valley, Earthen Oven, Amla and others to say “Enough already!” They invite all workers with cases at the Labor Department, problems receiving minimum wage, and those who feel that workers should be paid the minimum wage to join their call.
We will demand that Governor Cuomo stop the COVER-UP of wage theft:
• Enforce and strengthen labor laws to make minimum-wage hikes real
• Convene a wage board to raise minimum wages for tipped workers, the majority of whom are women