Slope restaurants cited for underpaying workers

Jimmy wrote: [quote=whynot_31]Or,
1. Abandon minimum wage, which isn't enforced anyway.
2. Enforce min wage laws.

The present "method" seems to depend on the public taking action as a result of bad press. To me, it seems flawed on several levels.

Some countries have their citizens pay their government to effectively enforce min wage laws, ours is not one of them.

Not to sound all *gasp* Republican, but I'd be fine with #1. But your last point confuses me - we should have to pay the government to enforce its own laws?

We pay the government to do things we think its supposed to be doing via ....taxes!

Currently we don't seem to be getting our taxes to go to min wage enforcement, perhaps b/c we don't really want the laws enforced. (or perhaps we pay the gov, but they are incompetent at doing the job...)

squindar wrote: [quote=Jamzer]I also plan to not eat at any of these places any time soon. There are a TON of good restaurants that are not on this list.

how about instead of boycotting them, go eat there and ask your server if the owners are complying with the wage laws yet. i.e. let them know their patrons and neighbors are still checking up on them, when the department of labor has moved on to other neighborhoods.

Oh come on and please be real. I do not have the time to inverview every worker at every restaurant I go to. I have the results of this investigation to guide me. I did not say I was boycotting these restaurants, just not going back any time soon. I don't eat at most of these places anyway.

Either way - I don't think of it as a boycott. I see it as rewarding those places that comply with the law. I can eat anywhere I like. And consider this: if I'm taking my business to the places that comply with the law, and other people who feel the same as me do so too, then those restaurants will get busier and need more workers. So it should even out in the end.

whynot_31 wrote: [quote=Jimmy][quote=whynot_31]Or,
1. Abandon minimum wage, which isn't enforced anyway.
2. Enforce min wage laws.

The present "method" seems to depend on the public taking action as a result of bad press. To me, it seems flawed on several levels.

Some countries have their citizens pay their government to effectively enforce min wage laws, ours is not one of them.

Not to sound all *gasp* Republican, but I'd be fine with #1. But your last point confuses me - we should have to pay the government to enforce its own laws?

We pay the government to do things we think its supposed to be doing via ....taxes!

Currently we don't seem to be getting our taxes to go to min wage enforcement, perhaps b/c we don't really want the laws enforced. (or perhaps we pay the gov, but they are incompetent at doing the job...)

Yeah, I guess my question was more "Why should we pay the government extra to enforce its own laws, beyond taxes?"

But yes, I'd actually agree with either or both of your reasons - a lot of people (not just Republicans) don't really want minimum wage laws enforced, because we understand that they're often unrealistic and unreflective of the market. But also the second part. Never underestimate the incompetance of government.

wingedearth wrote: Is this news? I was under the impression that every single restaurant in New York hired illegal aliens so they could pay slave wages, particularly the delivery people. New York is what they call a "sanctuary city", where immigration laws aren't enforced, so that businesses get away with having under-priced serfs.

and we get a meal for $8.

...but on the other hand, NYC occasionally raises its min wage above that mandated by the feds or NYC.

So, if we have a strategy, it isn't easy to ascertain.

wingedearth wrote: Is this news? I was under the impression that every single restaurant in New York hired illegal aliens so they could pay slave wages, particularly the delivery people. New York is what they call a "sanctuary city", where immigration laws aren't enforced, so that businesses get away with having under-priced serfs.

Of course it's not news - as someone said above, it's only a big deal because the places were caught - which turned it into an opportunity for folks to pretend they had no idea such things were going on right under their noses. Apparently they all believed that these restaurants were paying each of their employees at least minimum wage, weren't asking them to work more than 40 hours a week, and were offering full benefits packages.

whynot_31 wrote: [quote=wingedearth]Is this news? I was under the impression that every single restaurant in New York hired illegal aliens so they could pay slave wages, particularly the delivery people. New York is what they call a "sanctuary city", where immigration laws aren't enforced, so that businesses get away with having under-priced serfs.

and we get a meal for $8.

...but on the other hand, NYC occasionally raises its min wage above that mandated by the feds or NYC.

So, if we have a strategy, it isn't easy to ascertain.

What's the point of raising minimum wage if you're not going to enforce immigration laws, and businesses can just hire illegal alien workers for like $1/week?

pitu wrote: [quote=hitokiri]Wow, Aunt Suzies has ZERO excuse

Z-E-R-O

She owns her damn building and has very little overhead.
She also makes $20,000 gross per week.

That's pretty freekin crappy of her

Grub Street New York wrote: Aunt Suzie's Owner Spoke Against Sick Leave Before Being Busted for Wage-Dodging

(sheesh)


http://newyork.grubstreet.com/2009/11/alleged_wage-dodging_restaurat.html

lol

Keep in mind that out of 20,000 ... after taxes and expenses.... lets say she pockets 5,000 a week.

Did I mention that part of that 15k goes to rent for the building that she owns?
So that 5k could equal anywhere between 8 - 12.
Rent for a building that large could easily be 7k.

So this is beyond greed we seem to be talking about.

Pitu -

Interesting quote from your article
"To make matters more interesting, Lo Re is president of the Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District and she has also been a chairperson of Community Board 6."

So apparently there is corruption within the ranks?

Keep in mind that the result of these "inspections" came from asking the busboys/delivery people what they made. What are the odds that there are some other places that do the same exact thing, but their staff was too afraid of losing their jobs and so they didn't spill the beans?

squindar wrote: I finally got around to looking at the list of restaurants & the amounts owed...wow, there's quite a range, from

Coco Roco (Smith St.): $172,880.35
Coco Roco: $214,672.16

down to

Mezcal's Mexican Restaurant (Court St.): $38.16

....and have you wondered what this money really means, and how it was calculated? you're on the right track, though.

wage theft

http://www.wagetheft.org/

modsquad wrote: [quote=J0518]if you can't name a single concrete thing you've ever done in your life in the name of immigration reform in this country, you haven't got a single bit of ground to stand on here.
.

Agreed J0518, whenever possible I've voted for the candidate that supports stricter immigration laws in order to prevent these things from happening.

So our wages remain far above the rest of the world, and we lose all ability to compete?

Don't assume all the workers who a victims of wage theft are "illegal" immigrants. The most effective way to end wage theft is to police and punish employers.

Well if you ever worked in the restaurant biz, it is pretty much about exploitation. Until we get rid of the tipping system, and include it in the bill or something.....this crap will happen.

Here is the list

COMPLETE LIST OF WAGE VIOLATORS AND AMOUNT THEY UNDERPAID WORKERS:
Aunt Suzie's Restaurant: $10,196.69

Bagel World: $6,349.05

Red Hot Szechuan Kitchen: $5,830.17

Uncle Moe's: $25,515.28

Joe's Pizza: $21,727.66

Mr. Wonton: $23,502.39

Sette: $11,512.23

Mezcal's Mexican Restaurant (Court St.): $38.16

Mezcal's of 5th Ave.: $14,115.20

Baluchi's: $2,833.13

Bogota Latin Bistro $36,603.59

Coco Roco (Smith St.): $172,880.35

Coco Roco: $214,672.16

La Taqueria: $56,528.30

Miracle Grill: $26,283.55

Miriam Restaurant: $1,439.44

Nana Restaurant & Bar: $1,509.89

Olive Vine Café (7th Ave.): $88,196.43

Olive Vine Café (15th St.): $112,231.30

Rachel's Taqueria: $43,525.35

Song: $10,674.60

Sotto Voce: $3,766.21

Sweet Melissa: $382.10

exactly.

If you want to raise wages you have to either attempt to reduce the supply of people available to work (aka immigration "reform"), OR have the gov enforce min wage laws.

A competent, coordinate, funded approach government is needed to pursue either strategy.

Vigilante "minute men" on the border, or well intentioned boycotts really aren't going to achieve much.

FaridNYC/Bogota- welcome!
I worked foodservice for years, and agree, the competition and work hours are brutal. I certainly don't see the owners/managers as evil, and will take your word that you pay wages sufficient to maintain a happy, committed workforce.

I just shake my head when people seem shocked by the facts:
1. Some people work really hard in this city.
2. They earn what "we" consider to be barely enough to live.
3. Yet, they feel they are far better off then they would be if they were in their country of origin.

The current "system/state of affairs" in the United States is that we underpay undocumented labor, which allows us to overpay citizens.

I've said it on other threads, the rest of the world is rapidly gaining on us, and -as a nation- we either need to either lower our prices (aka work for less), or find something we are really good at. The present system is unsustainable.

....the national debt and trade deficits provide pretty good proof.