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RWDSU Partners With Dept. of Labor in Bushwick Investigation (12/19/07)

Jeff Eichler
Jeff Eichler (left), coordinator of the RWDSU's Retail Organizing Project, describes violations found by the NYSDOL investigation.
The New York State Department of Labor has uncovered serious wage violations by several retailers in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn, New York, aided by information provided by the RWDSU and one of the union's community partners, Make the Road New York. The NYSDOL investigation is part of an ongoing effort to enforce the state's labor laws to protect workers in the area who have long been victims of exploitation.
"By working together with the RWDSU and community groups, the New York State Department of Labor is helping to make this a merrier Christmas for some of the most exploited workers in our city," said RWDSU President Stuart Appelbaum.
Investigators found that 19 of the 26 businesses on Bushwick's Knickerbocker Avenue had committed numerous labor law violations. In some cases, workers were paid as little as $5 per hour -- far below the New York state minimum wage of $7.15 per hour. Some employees worked up to 72 hours a week without any overtime pay. The state mandates that workers are to be paid time-and-a-half for any hours over 40. Many employers also failed to keep payroll and time records.
"This investigation shows what RWDSU and community activists have known all along: Knickerbocker Avenue is a street of shame, where a largely immigrant workforce has been taken advantage of for too long by opportunistic retailers," Jeff Eichler, coordinator of the RWDSU's Retail Organizing Projects, said. "We will continue working with the NYSDOL to ensure that labor laws are enforced, and we will continue to help bring a union voice to the workers there by bringing them into the RWDSU."