Anybody Want This Guy's Job?
30 Immigrants On Bikes Deliver A Labor Revolt N.Y. Workers Gain Allies in Protest of Wages, Conditions
By Anthony Faiola Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, August 25, 2007; A01
NEW YORK -- The deliverymen of Saigon Grill labored for years at the bottom of Manhattan's food chain. Biking swiftly down the avenues in biting cold and searing heat, they schlepped up high-rises and walk-ups with bags of steaming noodles and shrimp fried rice.
Then they surprised their bosses -- and others in this seen-it-all town -- by serving up something unexpected: a revolt.
The 30 men -- all immigrants, including undocumented workers frustrated with the poor conditions and low wages that are often a fact of life in America's underground economy -- banded together in an effort to unionize. They demanded an end to what they say were salaries less than half the minimum wage, and to penalties that included $20 fines for late deliveries and $50 for shutting the restaurant's glass doors with a bang.
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