Tell Detroit Restaurant Chain You're Fed Up With Wage Theft

The Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan (ROC), one of eight regional affiliates of the national workers center, is upping the pressure on a metro Detroit fine dining chain this week. Restaurant workers are fighting Andiamo Italia over a raft of claims, including wage theft and racial and ethnic discrimination—and are asking for support from Labor Notes readers.

Hundreds of supporters have joined workers in three actions at the Dearborn, Michigan, restaurant in November. The weekend following its second protest, Andiamo fired a cook who has been an outspoken leader of the campaign.

ROC fought her dismissal—saying she was retaliated against—until the restaurant reinstated her days later. But the mother of five was bumped to part-time—given only two days a week in the kitchen. Management has also pressured workers to sign forms making their employment contingent upon a promise not to sue the company over their grievances.

Workers and ROC organizers dispute the legality of the forms, and have called another action in front of Andiamo Dearborn on December 4, at 7 pm. “We need to show them that this kind of intimidation and worker abuse is unacceptable,” said ROC-Michigan director Minsu Longiaru.

ACTIVISTS NATIONWIDE CAN HELP RESTAURANT WORKERS RIGHT NOW!

Call and email the restaurant using the information below.

Phone number for Andiamo Dearborn: (313) 359-3300

*Please keep in mind that the person who answers this call is most likely to be a host or hostess who at best can only relay to management that he or she is receiving a number of calls on this issue. This is not a direct line to management. Please be cordial with the person that answers the phone. He or she is also a worker. This is extremely important.

Here are suggested talking points:

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*Ask for the manager or leave a voice mail for the manager.

Hi, my name is __________. I am calling because I am very concerned about the way that Andiamo Dearborn is violating the rights of its employees. I also find it deeply disturbing that Andiamo Dearborn is illegally retaliating against its employees by cutting their hours and intmidating them. I urge the owners to sit down and meet with these workers as soon as possible. Thank you.

Email Joseph Vicari, CEO of Andiamo Italia at joev [at] andiamoitalia [dot] com.

Here is suggested text:

Dear Mr. Vicari,

I am writing because I am very concerned about the way that Andiamo Dearborn is violating the rights of its employees. I also find it deeply disturbing that Andiamo Dearborn is illegally retaliating against its employees by cutting their hours and intmidating them. I urge you to sit down and meet with these workers as soon as possible. Thank you.

Once you’ve emailed or called, let ROC know at michiganinfo [at] rocunited [dot] org. You can also request to be on a list for updates.