Action against wage theft and physical abuse at Gourmet Heaven

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:

RI Future.org

The Providence Journal

NBC 10

Congratulations Graduates of Injured Workers Committee's Workers' Compensation Training!

Congratulations to all the workers from our Injured Worker Committee who graduated from the second annual training with Chief Judge George Healy of the RI Workers' Compensation Court! Now you are ready to educate other workers in the community about their rights if they are injured at work and organize the community to improve the workers' compensation system.

Solidarity with Brown University workers in their fight against subcontracting!

Brown workers protest the use of subcontractors and private corporations in the library and mailroom on November 14

On October 27, Fuerza joined with AFSCME and Brown University mailroom and library workers in a workshop led by the Brown Student Labor Alliance about the increase in subcontracted, privatized, and outsourced work. Workers across many industries in all parts of the world are facing wage cuts, losses of benefits, threats, intimidation, and dangerous working conditions as a direct result of subcontractors and private corporations. Thank you to the Brown students for inviting us to be a part of this panel!

From Bluestockings magazine:

"Harol López described Fuerza Laboral’s work to stop wage theft by Avalon Bay, a construction company, who withheld over $15,000 in wages from undocumented workers. Although Avalon Bay eventually worked out a payment with Fuerza Laboral, workers’ internalized fear along with a vast, interstate system of subcontracting made it incredibly difficult to secure justice. 'The fear when you’re undocumented really stops workers from speaking out. It’s fear of being reported, fear of being fired and not being able to find a new job or a job that’s as good,” said López. Gladys Gould from AFSCME added, “[The subcontracting companies] threaten people with their jobs, and then these workers won’t organize…We have women who get sexually assaulted, who put up with all these things because they don’t want to lose their jobs.”

Celebrate with Us! Fuerza Laboral's 8th Anniversary Party

Fuerza Laboral is pleased to invite you to our 8th Anniversary Party!

Our anniversary is our most important fundraiser of the year. We are celebrating our campaigns' achievements in 2014 and asking for your support so that we can continue in our mission to end the exploitation of workers. We appreciate your support!

The party starts at 7pm on Friday, October 24 at Club Madeira, 46 Madeira Ave, Central Falls, RI 02863.

[click here to buy tickets]

[click here to buy tickets]

Workers' Compensation Training for Injured Workers with Chief Judge George Healy

For the second year in a row, the Injured Workers Committee of Fuerza Laboral is pleased to host Chief Judge George Healy of the RI Workers' Compensation Court to conduct a three-session training for all workers on their rights when they are injured on the job or have work-related health problems. 

The first session on September 27 focused on workers' rights to legal representation and navigating the judicial process. A special focus of this session was what legal resources are available to workers who are fired for getting injured or after pursuing workers' compensation cases. 

In the second session on October 18, workers learned about their rights to medical attention when they are injured on the job, including the right to see doctors and specialists, the right to paid medication, and the right to any type of therapy or surgery, to be paid for by the insurance of their employer. We also talked about the changes we need to the workers' compensation system so that we can all have quick and easy access to medical attention.

The third session, on Saturday, December 13 from 10am-12pm in Fuerza's offices, will cover the services available to injured workers. All are welcome to participate!

The second session of the Injured Workers Committee's training with Chief Judge George Healy of the RI Workers' Compensation Court, on Saturday, October 18

The graduates of the 2013 Workers' Compensation training with their diplomas

Open House for our Worker-Owned Cooperative Business Project

Fuerza Laboral and the POWER Network invite you to an Open House for our Cooperative Incubator Project on Saturday, October 18, from 3-6pm at Fuerza Laboral.

We want to hear from you!

  • Do you have experience working for a cooperative business here in the U.S. or in your home country?
  • What type of cooperative business have you worked for, and what type of cooperative business would you like to work for?
  • Whether or not you have prior experience working for a cooperative, would you like to be involved in this exciting project?

All are welcome to participate!


The POWER Network (People Owning Wider Economic Resources) is Fuerza Laboral (lead organization), Roger Williams University, Navigant Credit Union, Center for Family Life, and the City of Central Falls

The POWER Network’s vision is to significantly contribute to the eradication of poverty in the Central Falls, RI community by incubating and providing ongoing support to a diversity of worker owned co-operative businesses who will commit to the principles of co-operative governance, which includes democratic control by the workers and concern for community, 

We envision eradicating poverty in our community by building the power of workers themselves to control their economic destiny through a Cooperative Business Incubator program. We seek to create an economic model led by impacted members of our community that respects the dignity of all workers, draws on workers’ own strengths and skills, and puts people above profits. A network of cooperative businesses founded with these values will provide living-wage, quality jobs to those who are most vulnerable to income inequality, thus changing the economic power dynamic that had previously kept them poor.

Berger-Marks Foundation Supports Fuerza's Focus on the Rights of Women Workers

The Berger-Marks Foundation has awarded Fuerza Laboral a grant to support our work to organize and defend the rights of women workers. The Berger-Marks Foundation, whose mission is to help organize women into unions, provides both financial support and camaraderie to people and organizations doing that work. We are looking forward to deepening our work in this area with their help! To learn more about them, visit their website by clicking here.