FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 11, 2011
Contact: Kim Baglieri, (347) 298-7964, ugnayan.nynj@gmail.com
Filipino Community to Celebrate Adriane’s Wage Theft Campaign Victory
and Recognize the Service of Filipino Youth Restaurant Workers
Do you believe in fair treatment and pay for the young workers in our community? On Sunday, May 15th, join in the “Justice for Adriane Campaign Celebration and Restaurant Workers Appreciation Day,” a day to provide resources to Filipino youth restaurant workers and to unite our community in the just and equitable treatment of workers. Adriane Padilla, a former restaurant worker who has been seeking compensation from her former employers at Barrio Fiesta in Woodside, will be sharing her experience and the victories of her case. This event is organized by Ugnayan ng mga Anak ng Bayan, a community-based rights and justice organization for Filipino youth based in New York and New Jersey, with a strong base in Queens.
“I'm going to support restaurant workers based on a fair and just conditions of workers,” says Ms. Padilla.
As a 19 year-old restaurant worker at her former employment at Barrio Fiesta, Ms. Padilla experienced abuse and workplace violations. She won a final judgement by Honorable Ramon E. Reyes, Jr., US Magistrate of the Eastern District of New York in September 2010 and was awarded $26,000. Included in the summary judgement is for Manlapaz and Reyes to pay Ms. Padilla's legal fees. This huge victory that Ugnayan celebrates with Ms. Padilla and the community reveals the just, collective struggle of youth, Filipinos, women and workers.
Adriane Padilla is not alone. In 2010 workers in low-wage jobs lost more than $18.4 million per week as a result of employment and labor law violations. 21% of workers were paid less than minimum wage and 77% of those who worked more than 40 hours a week did not receive overtime pay. Amongst young workers in our Filipino community, this has a negative effect, impacting their ability to thrive, pay for school, and support their families. Like Ms. Padilla, women workers are additionally vulnerable to sexual harassment. Undocumented workers, often unaware that they have the right to get paid legal wages regardless of their immigration status, often suffer the worst abuses. Because of the impoverished conditions in the Philippines, Ms. Padilla is part of a community of youth who are forced to migrate abroad; and upon arrival in the US, are pushed into low-wage work where abuses, exploitation and discrimination are prevalent.
“We collected letters of support to seek one thing,” says Ms. Padilla, “and that's JUSTICE.”
Led by Ms. Padilla, Ugnayan members and supporters, the group will send off 100 letters, signed by community members, to her former employer in order to demand a written apology for the workplace violations Ms. Padilla experienced while working three years in Barrio Fiesta.
Ugnayan and community members will gather at 12pm, at the Woodside Plaza, on Roosevelt Avenue and 59th Street. As fair labor practice is in the interest of all community members, Ugnayan will end the day by conducting street and restaurant outreach on fair labor practice. A workshop will be conducted in partnership with Senior Staff Attorney, David Colodny of the Community Development Project of the Urban Justice Center. The Know Your Rights Workshop will start at 3:30pm at Ugnayan’s ally organization, DRUM, 72-18 Roosevelt Avenue, 2nd Floor, Jackson Heights, NY.
Ms. Padilla concludes, “I may have won the civil court lawsuit but justice doesn't end there. Justice is creating awareness for all youth on their rights as restaurant workers.”
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