What a Korean restaurant worker union win says about future of labor movements
Korean and Latino workers at a Korean restaurant in Los Angeles ratified their first union contract, marking a breakthrough for workers, advocates say.
Korean and Latino workers at a Korean restaurant in Los Angeles ratified their first union contract, marking a breakthrough for workers, advocates say.
The win last month makes Genwa, an upscale Korean barbecue chain that’s been cited for multiple labor law violations, the first privately owned Korean restaurant to be unionized nationwide.
Advocates say the historic victory, which came after a half-decade of cross-racial organizing, can provide a blueprint for other immigrant restaurant workers hoping to fight for their rights in an industry rife with exploitation and wage theft.
“Restaurants become a revolving door for servers and bartenders and cooks because there’s no job security,” José Roberto Hernández, president of the union and director of organizing for Koreatown Immigrant Workers Alliance, told NBC Asian America. “We hope the unity between migrant communities, between Asians and Latinos, can bring us to a better future for the workers who are sustaining this industry.”
In the restaurant sector, labor law violations disproportionately harm people of color. A 2010 UCLA survey found that 38% of Latino workers and 36% of foreign-born workers in L.A. experienced wage theft, compared with just 10% of white workers. Workers lose $1.4 billion to wage theft every year, according to an estimate from KIWA.
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