| Username |
Post |
| koko |
Posted
on 07-Aug-01 09:12 AM
It really ticks me off to see all of my fellow countrymen being abused by the dhoti's in Indian restaurents.Yes they are here illegally but that does not give them the right to treat them like slaves. THey work about 12 hrs a day & get $350 a week with no tips. That is lower than minimum wage. On top of that they treat them like a peice of crap. I was wondering if GBNC would be able to help them in anyways...
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| Namita |
Posted
on 07-Aug-01 09:36 AM
Lately, this has been in my mind too. In New York an illegal worker successfully sued its employer with the backing of some powerful not-for-profit agency . He was getting paid 3/hour to haul groceries from the supermarket to the customer. He was not paid overtime, you know the whole spiel. USA does not want people coming into the country illegally but they protect workers' rights once they are here, even if they are illegal. Go figure.
So what can we do? Talk to some civil rights (workers rights lawyers - you know that kind of lawyer) and sue the hell out of these exploiter? Then the workers might be fired. Do we wanna house them until the case is resolved? Maybe we could set up a fund and brace for a long battle. Then they can pay off later from whatever money (it won't be little) they will get from these slave owners.
So, does anybody know any lawer who might be willing to look into this? Or we just go methodically. Interview these workers , see how many want to rock the boat and proceed. Wham! Then we will hit these suckers with a lawsuit. How about it?
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| Enquirer |
Posted
on 07-Aug-01 09:49 AM
This might come as a surprise to you but ever think what the actual workers feel about it? Do they want to sue? Majority of these workers would not want to sue their employers who exploit them at below minimum wages. And the reason is that for them that's probably the best option otherwise they would not be working there in the first place. Many of these students work at indian restaurants because of the lure of sponsorship for Green Card.
From the Indian restaurants' perspective, they do give these workers green cards which takes around 3 years. So for 3 years they got a Nepali worker working day and night for them. Aftey they get the Green Card the Nepali worker moves on but there are other fresh fishes in the boat who will continue the cycle.
From the worker's perspective, it works out too because, where else would they get a Green Card? After the green card life is much easier so it's all worth couple of year's worth of exploitation.
Of course there will be couple of workers who are not happy about it and don't care for green card either or won't be sponsored for one. But would they want to be brought to limelight by a litigation? Probably not, since first of all they are working illegaly and they might even be out of status in the US.
There is definitely more to it than hits the eye.
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| Namita |
Posted
on 07-Aug-01 09:58 AM
hits the eye or meets the eye? maybe hit is more appropriate here. : )
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| Auch |
Posted
on 07-Aug-01 10:46 AM
This is not only true of restaurant workers but child care providers, au pair, and house keepers are in the same situation. Unfortunately they are not in contact with many other Nepalis to share their greivances and complaints. What can be done. These people are at the mercy of their "owners".
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| koko |
Posted
on 07-Aug-01 10:49 AM
So are you guys saying that you are willing to let these atrocities go on in the name of green card ??? From legeal point of veiw, these employers should be sent to jail for exploiting these helpless people. I am talking about older people not students. These guys are no better than those slave traders in Africa. Taking advantage of these helpless people is illegal.
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| Wheel of Life |
Posted
on 07-Aug-01 05:18 PM
Well, how about all the Indian vegetable vendors and mistris in Nepal who are treated like dirt - and almost lynched every time the commies start a riot in Kathmandu? Are these Indians (saale dhoti...as they are fondly called) treated like humans? They too work 12 hours a day - maybe more - get paid minimum wages for their labour and suffer major physical and verbal abuse everyday.
Remember, what goes around, comes around.
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| Judge Judy |
Posted
on 07-Aug-01 06:12 PM
Wheel of life--you stole the words from my mouth, I totally agree with you on this! We need to look at ourselves honestly, before we can judge others...
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| Enquirer |
Posted
on 07-Aug-01 09:18 PM
Instead of bitching and moaning why don't someone find the information on how to prepare a class acting lawsuit?? Anyone have lawyer contacts who can give information on how to proceed the case to end this kind of atrocities?
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| me |
Posted
on 08-Aug-01 09:22 AM
enquirer: I second to that! let's be constructive and find a solution for one thing at a time.
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| sitaramChoudhry |
Posted
on 08-Aug-01 12:06 PM
Whether legal or illegal, a worker is entitled to minimum wage and over time hours.
Anything over 48 hrs/wk for a small business like a restaurant is over time. If a Nepali worker or any other person finds that he/she is being denied min. wage, over time, and equal wage ie a relative of the owner washing dishes getting $8/hr while a Mexican dishwasher working a different shift get $5.50/hr,
he/she should call Department of Labor for that State. If you feel you are being cheated out of your tip money, inform the IRS. One can ask to remain anonymous while reporting all these to the authorities.
Remember, if you let your unscroupulous employer abuse you, they will. And, it is not only the Indian restaurants. I know Nepalese restaurants do the same, too - scheduling relatives or friends as waiters on busy nights and giving crummy hours to others or multi-tasking in order to reduce hourly wage and employers taxes. I could go on and on with different ploys but the point is what can be done. If one stays silent and does nothing, this will continue. Therefore one has to speak!
(i) One could report what goes on at the restaurant to local neighborhood newspaper and ask the customers not to patronize this place;
(ii) keep your eyes open as to what other codes the employer is breaking and report it to repective local agencies eg if you are aware that the place is not upto the city health codes, notify the health department of your local city government.
(iii) of course, there is the better business bureau, the attorney general, the local chamber of commerce, and the restaurant association if the owner belongs to one.
Sita Ram
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| Sushil |
Posted
on 08-Aug-01 12:46 PM
AT the same time, remember that if you start complaining to IRS and DOL, all of these restaurants and hotels will get frightened and will fire every illegal worker they have hired. Otherwise they pay thousands of dollars in fines for hiring illegals. Just think how many people will be out of jobs. Who will feed them while they remain unemployed and while the class action lawsuit is pursued? Namita asks if we want to house them until the case is resolved. Does she know how many illegal workers there are in the U.S.? How many there are in Boston alone?
Besides, what happens to the illegal workers when all is said and done? Yes, the restaurants will be punished, but INS would probably say, "you foreigners were working illegallly, therefore you are being deported." It's unlikely INS will be handing them green cards on a silver platter simply because they won a lawsuit.
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| Borntocook |
Posted
on 08-Aug-01 04:30 PM
I can cook better than any Indian chef. Name it ? CHICKEN TIKKA, PANIR KO SAAG, HYDERABADI BENGAN, PAAU BHAJI, PAAPADAM, CHICKEN MASALA, SAMOSA, BABY GOAT.........Ahahahaaaa !!.....and the list goes on and on. What I can say ? Cooking is my hobby :-)
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| hUNGRY |
Posted
on 08-Aug-01 06:48 PM
sO when are u inviting us to your place to taste the mouth watering dishes""
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| Rashmi |
Posted
on 09-Aug-01 12:18 AM
Speaking about Indians, reminds me of the way those Indian video stores get away without having to pay those heavy income taxes just by using huge rosters instead of computers to keep records of their sales. Can you imagine having to wait in line forever just because those people spend hours flipping those pages to find our records! Gosh! that's terrrible!! I have seen such stores and I'm sure you have too.
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| Rahul |
Posted
on 09-Aug-01 01:18 AM
Namita, thanx for great opinion about nepalese people working in united states without permission.but i dont think all nepalese who are currently working in Indain restaurants will follow your vision.
I personally really appriciate your feeling about nepali. as a nepali in usa i know it is very eassy to say but very hard to follow. i dont mean you are saying wrong thing. if we want to fight agianst these things we need to unite first.
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| Concerned |
Posted
on 09-Aug-01 09:27 AM
The class action lawsuit sounds fine - in principle at least. But the restaurant workers - many of them desperate immigrants at the bottom of the pecking order - have few options. And most will reject the idea outright.
Why, the Indian restaurants have been a stepping stone to hundreds of Nepali immigrants over the years to chase their American dreams.
Nepalis are working in restaurants all over the US - Boston, New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles...Why topple the applecart when we can't offer an alternative? We are here talking about perhaps No. 1 job among Nepalese immigrants. So let's be careful. These actions willl have enourmous repercussion.
Nepalese risk being branded as oh-no by South Asian employers in the US and of course remember many of these people (men) are sending money home to their young wives and kids in Kaski and Morang.
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| Sue Yu |
Posted
on 09-Aug-01 03:20 PM
All u smart alecs who want to sue the Indians,
The only people who will suffer from yur actions will be the workers. U think any of yur illegal friends and cousins from Nepal will ever find a job in this country again? U think the workers who will lose their jobs will forgive u? They will hate u guys. Don't just see the world through yur Amrikan eyeglasses all the time.
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| Borntocook |
Posted
on 09-Aug-01 03:41 PM
Maybe we should open a Nepali Resturant in "Harbard Iskure" and hire some Nepali
guys & gals and treat them well. The question is, who is going to do it ? I don't mind
myself serving as a chef. I would make KWATI KO SOUP, AMILO TAAMAA KO TARKARI, POLEKO GOLVEDA KO ACHAR, MOMO, TIL KO ACHAR, PHARSI KO TARKARI, GUNDRUK JHOOL, BHUTEKO RAMTORIYA, BUTEKO BHANTA, KARELA KO ACHAR ani KHASI KO KABAB ( DASHAIN STYLE ).....Ahahaha !!HOINA EY GAATHEY, Afu lai ta Bhok po laagera aayo ta !!
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| Observer |
Posted
on 10-Aug-01 08:56 AM
If any restaurant workers or owners are concerend that some kind of lawsuit might come out of this discussion, let me assure you: YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT. Most of the people who use/abuse this forum just yap! It seems this is a perfect outlet for them to kill some boring hours at work or at home by just finding some issues to yap about. In 2 weeks time, this subject will be history and they will be yapping about something new. Different topic, different time, but the same people, and still no action. Just words, words in this virtual world that could be deleted faster than they were written. So, no worries anyone.
Observer
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