September 11 Digital Archive

Lawsuit against Korean employers for unpaid wage might be conditionally pardoned

Title

Lawsuit against Korean employers for unpaid wage might be conditionally pardoned

Source

born-digital

Media Type

article

Original Name

Korean greengrocery and deli owners who agree to abide by mimum wage, overtime and other labor laws

Created by Author

yes

Described by Author

no

Date Entered

2002-09-16

VTMBH Article: Edition

34

VTMBH Article: Article Order

2

VTMBH Article: Title

Lawsuit against Korean employers for unpaid wage might be conditionally pardoned

VTMBH Article: Author

JooChan Kim

VTMBH Article: Publication

Korea Times New York

VTMBH Article: Original Language

Korean

VTMBH Article: Translator

Jeongwoo Han

VTMBH Article: Section

news

VTMBH Article: Blurb

Korean greengrocery and deli owners who agree to abide by mimum wage, overtime and other labor laws will be pardoned from a suit brought by their Latino employees and their union, in a deal brokered by New York State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer.

VTMBH Article: Keywords

VTMBH Article: Body

The lawsuit between Korean greengrocers and deli owners and their Hispanic employees is predicted to end in a conditional pardon of the Korean greengrocers and deli owners.

New York State Attorney General Elliot Spitzer is mediating the settlement of this lawsuit between the two groups. They are expected to announce a resolution by next week.

The main condition of this pardon is that Korean greengrocers and deli owners must sign and agree to a Code of Conduct which includes related labor law provisions. They must also agree to pay their workers minimum wage, time-and-a-half for overtime, and unpaid or delayed wages and overtime. If these conditions are met, the Korean greengrocers and deli owners will be pardoned for their past faults.

This Code of Conduct includes a labor law which states that after an employee has worked at an establishment for one year, they must be given one week of paid vacation time and sick leave.

Ahn Sung Hyun, the Vice President of the Korean-American Association of New York, who participated in the negotiations along with Spitzer, the labor union representing the Hispanic workers, and the Korean owners, stated, If the Korean owners decide to sign the Code of Conduct and follow through with the current negotiations, they will receive clemency for their past errors.

Ahn also explained that signing this Code of Conduct will be beneficial for the Korean owners as well, since by doing so they can avoid further investigations by the New York Attorney Generals office and protests by unions.

If this is resolved in this manner, it will alleviate the trouble some Korean owners had with unpaid wage conflicts with Hispanic employees and the unionization of Hispanic workers.

The president of the Korean-American Association of New York, Suk-joo Kim, met with Francisco Garcia, a Mexican senator and Chairman of the Association of Unions in Mexico, and talked over the methods of improving relations between Koreans and Mexicans in New York.

I hope that the Korean and Mexican communities in New York will come to understand and help each other, Garcia said.

Kim replied, Although there are some tensions between Koreans and Hispanics, an intimate codependent relationship exists between them. I see in the near future a time where the conflict between Korean owners and Hispanic employees will be resolved. Garcia remarked that he will invite the members of the Korean Association of New York, including President Kim, to Mexico

VTMBH Article: Line Breaks

1

VTMBH Article: Date

2002-09-16

VTMBH Article: Thumb

VTMBH Article: Article File

VTMBH Article: Hit Count

118

Citation

“Lawsuit against Korean employers for unpaid wage might be conditionally pardoned,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 23, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/1573.