Video by Steve Ahlquist for RI Future
On Friday December 19th, Fuerza Laboral, along with allies from Rhode Island Jobs with Justice and multiple union locals, joined ex-workers in downtown Providence at the Gourmet Heaven deli to demand justice for wage theft and physical abuse against their current and former employees. Thank you to all of the individuals and the organizations that showed up to support us!
The group of 10 ex-workers that Fuerza has been organizing with were working 65 to 85 hours per week and receiving only $350 to $400—well below minimum wage and with no overtime—which constitutes wage theft. Two of the workers, Pedro and Edgar, suffered serious injuries on the job but were never treated with appropriate medical care. Pedro was punched and physically abused by the kitchen manager, who continues to work there. The owner of the deli chain, Chung Cho, owes the group of workers over $100,000 in unpaid wages.
We entered the store to speak directly with the manager, picketed outside for over an hour, heard directly from ex-workers and union leaders who spoke out against their abusers, and delivered a list of demands to the manager. Read more about the action in these articles: