UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (PIX11) – Workers are calling for the boycott of an Upper West Side restaurant because of claims of wage theft allegedly totaling $1 million. Employees of the restaurant and their supporters rallied outside Swagat on Amsterdam Avenue on Tuesday morning.
Two employees are suing owners Lala Sharma and Abishek Sharma for “failure to pay minimum wage and overtime pay, failure to pay spread of hours compensation, and making unlawful deductions,” according to the complaint.
Francisco De Dios is one of those workers.
“When nobody [came] to work, they [called] me and they [paid] me only $25 for 12 hours,” de Dios said through a translator.
De Dios wears many hats in the restaurant, from a dishwasher, prep cook, to delivery. He also cleans the restaurant. He started working there in 2014 and said he makes $300 a week and many times puts in 80 hours. This equals less than $4 an hour.
Samantha Isales is a member of National Mobilization Against Sweatshops, an organization that advocates for workers’ rights.
“Our bosses think that they can steal our wages, and it goes unpunished, and that is why they continue doing it,” Isales said.
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