Campaigning for Workplace Justice

You are what you eat, and we're hungry for justice!

Using tactics that include organizing workers, litigation, and public pressure, we work to demonstrate public consequences for employers that take the 'low-road' to profitability.

The Low Road

Many restaurant owners take the low road to profitability, violating workers' rights and offering little chance of upward mobility.  It is primarily workers of color who are concentrated in the industry's "bad jobs."  These restaurant workers have nowhere to turn for help, as most of the industry is non-unionized.  For many, reporting abuses would mean losing their jobs; some fear deportation.

Our Successes

Nationally, ROC has led nine major campaigns against exploitation in the restaurant industry, winning financial settlements and improvements in workplace policies, including grievance procedures, raises, sexual harassment policies, sick days, job security, and anti-discrimination policies.

Our Current Campaign:  Justice at Andiamo

Restaurant workers at Andiamo Restaurant in Dearborn and members of ROC-Michigan are standing up for their rights on the job!  They have filed a federal lawsuit claiming they are owed over $125,000 in stolen wages as well as violations for discrimination and illegal retaliation.  Since November 2009, Andiamo restaurant workers and their supporters have been holding weekly pickets outside the restaurant, which have received local and national press attention.  Join this multiracial group of front-of-the house and back-of-the-house and immigrant and non-immigrant, restaurant workers demanding just treatment on the job!  For more information on the campaign and how you can help out, click here. 

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