“I remember going into work one day and hearing a coworker complain about our wages. This was maybe three months into me working at Blaze. Until then, I had no idea that anything was wrong,” said Sydney Kuran, a worker at Blaze Pizza and nursing student at the University of Minnesota. “I expected them to pay me a legal wage. I trusted them to do that, because why wouldn’t they?”
Kuran is one of the workers who won over $28,000 in a settlement over wage theft violations and damages by the Blaze Pizza franchise located in the Stadium Village neighborhood of Minneapolis. The workers, along with Restaurant Opportunities Center Minnesota (ROC-MN), hosted a press conference on Tuesday announcing the settlement.
Often, workers are not regarded holistically, but as costs on a spreadsheet. Taking action against employers can be difficult if workers feel at risk of losing their job and source of income or benefits. Former Blaze Pizza worker and UMN student Aibai Tarrant spoke about becoming aware of their rights.
“I didn’t know the owners were stealing my wages…however, there was a poster of labor laws in the kitchen that I would read occasionally and wonder if we were being paid correctly,” said Tarrant. “I brought it up to management a couple of times, but they were dismissive about the issue.”
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