Activists Call For Boycott

Restaurant Accused Of Exploiting Workers

The Capital Times :: METRO :: C1

Wednesday, July 4, 2007
By Pat Schneider The Capital Times
 

Workers' rights advocates are preparing to call a boycott of a popular Mexican restaurant over what they say is continued exploitation of workers.

The Madison Workers' Rights Center plans to launch a boycott of La Hacienda Restaurant, 515 S. Park St., at noon Saturday with a protest against what advocates call of a pattern of requiring work "off the clock."

Workers, community activists, labor advocates, religious leaders and others will be on a picket line, calling on patrons to boycott the restaurant, the Workers' Rights Center said in a news release.

Saul Castillo, president of the center's board of directors, said the boycott will continue "until the La Hacienda management pays the substantial sums it owes its workers and brings an end to its unfair pay practices."

La Hacienda previously paid more than $38,000 in back wages to employees, after the U.S. Department of Labor found it violated overtime pay standards and failed to keep accurate records in 2003 and 2004.

Attorney Victor Arellano, who represents La Hacienda owner David Herrera, said those past infractions were a matter only of failing to keep adequate records and that all wages owed were paid.

Charges by the Workers' Rights Center that La Hacienda workers in recent weeks have been denied earned wages are "reckless, reckless allegations," Arellano said in an interview Tuesday.

"The notion that just because you are an employer you are evil is a mistaken notion," Arellano said. "Equally mistaken is the notion that you can go public without any facts and defame people."

Patrick Hickey, executive director of the workers' center, said that five former La Hacienda workers had come to the center in recent weeks, saying that they were required to sign out, then continue to work off the clock.

The incidents frequently occurred after the restaurant's 3 a.m. weekend closing, when workers were required to stay and clean after the doors closed.

Workers were owed $3,000 to $11,000 each for unpaid time worked over the past couple of years, Hickey said.

Hickey said that Herrera offered to show Rights Center staff the time records, but given the complaints of workers, Hickey said such a show of records would be "a waste of time."

"We're trying to get a small community delegation to meet with the owner," Hickey said. "That option is still out there."

Hickey said that similar practices go on at other restaurants in town. Dishwashers and janitors are placed on "salary," so by law they receive no overtime, but given their 60- to 80-hour work weeks, are paid below the state minimum wage of $6.50 an hour.

Salvador Carranza, president of Latinos United For Change and Advancement, LUChA, said his organization supports the rights of workers to decent treatment.

But he is concerned about the public way that the dispute between a Latino businessman and his workers is playing out. "It's detrimental to the community at large," he said.

"The issue is not whether an owner should exploit his workers, it's about finding a way that it doesn't explode," Carranza said. The best thing would be to find a way to make an business owner not paying fair wages understand that it would be to his own benefit to treat workers well, he said.

LUChA had for years held its monthly meetings at the restaurant, until switching to a more central location several months ago, Carranza said.

Alfonso Zepeda Capistran, a Latino activist, said that the fact that the restaurant is owned by a Latino makes no difference in the obligation to treat workers well or be held accountable.

"Abuse of any kind of workers should not be tolerated," he said. "We don't want to have different standards for different workers."

Hickey said that La Hacienda hires many workers newly arrived in Madison.

"A lot of them are happy to have a job and they don't complain," he said.

Most of the workers bringing complaints to the center are immigrants, undocumented and documented both, he said.

"For some, there is an issue of document status, and some employers take advantage of people who don't know the ins and outs of the law or would be hesitant to approach a government agency to complain," Hickey said.

Workers' rights laws apply to all workers, regardless of their immigration status.

Arellano said that the workers' center refused to provide documentation - Social Security numbers and timecards - to substantiate the claims of unpaid wages.

"These people ignored Mr. Herrera's request and decided to go public," Arellano said.

"I would not represent a person who exploits people. This is a man who gives to the community, he opened to door to so many workers," he said.

Workers' rights center board member Julian Vigo Rivera said the boycott will be an opportunity for Madison to show what it stands for.

"Madison prizes its reputation as a socially conscious community," he said. "Let this boycott be a message not only to La Hacienda, but to all Dane County employers who practice economic injustice towards immigrant workers. Justice is due, and we will do our best to see it granted."