Does “wage theft” actually happen in Northampton restaurants? Yes. Having worked in a restaurant downtown, I was aware of my immigrant co-workers being paid less than minimum wage and denied overtime pay.
As a U.S. citizen, I was paid both of these things. The reason we are not hearing about these things is because many of these people feel they don’t have a voice. One reason being that in many of the countries they are from, police and governmental corruption is the norm.
Another is that they may be afraid of going to the authorities because of fear of deportation. Or, they may not speak English well enough. It’s frustrating to see these problems swept under the rug. I understand that it’s difficult to own a restaurant and that owners are not millionaires.
However, we do not make excuses for other types of businesses. If restaurants can’t afford to pay minimum wage to employees and keep their doors open, this is a larger problem within our economic infrastructure that employees should not have to suffer for.
I think at the root of this problem is lack of respect for both restaurant workers and immigrants. Many people in Northampton will say they are for workers’ rights but deny that there are violations happening in Northampton.
The incident with Zen was an example of people downplaying the voices of people who lost both their job and their housing with less than 24 hours notice. We need a real discussion about these issues and not just more speculation on whether or not they are occurring.
Katherine Evans
Northampton