Melinda Tuhus Photo
After weeks of pickets outside two city restaurants, former workers who claim they’ve been denied $123,000 in wages have convinced the state to take a look.
The state is assigning staffers to probe the complaint of 11 former restaurant workers who claim they are owed back wages from Cafe Goodfellas and Downtown At The Taft, according to Department of Labor investigator Blair Bertaccini.
Bertaccini said Wednesday that he accepted the complaints and that they will be assigned shortly to an investigator or agent.
Immigrant and labor activists were already celebrating that news on Friday evening at a picket line in front of Cafe Goodfellas, a gangster-themed State Street restaurant where they have been holding weekly demonstrations with the former employees. (Pictured are two former workers from the Taft.)
To chants of “antipasto, anti-worker, boycott Goodfellas,” 15 supporters from Unidad Latina en Accion, the New Haven Workers’ Association and the ANSWER Coalition walked to and fro outside the door for one hour.
The activists were supporting 11 former restaurant workers who filed a labor complaint with the state. Four workers are claiming $23,000 in unpaid back wages from Goodfellas and seven claim $100,000 in unpaid wages from Downtown at the Taft at 261 College St.
Picket organizer John Jairo Lugo (pictured) said the back wages accrued because Goodfellas was not paying the workers minimum wage or overtime. Downtown at the Taft has since changed its name to Baccus Enoteca. Lugo claimed it retained the same ownership despite the name change, but a staffer at the Secretary of the State’s office said there’s been no new filing for that address and that the owner of record, Taft Restaurant Venture, LLC, last filed its annually required statement in 2009.)
Reached at a previous demonstration, Goodfellas co-owner Gennaro Iannacone declined comment. On Friday night, a reporter who entered the restaurant seeking an interview was told by an employee at the door that no one was available to speak about the issue. Asked when someone might be available, he replied, “Maybe next month, maybe next year.”
The stools at the bar were full, but it could not be seen how full the adjoining dining room was. There was not a lot of foot traffic past the restaurant during the hour-long protest. Of those who passed none was seen entering the restaurant except members of a band with their instruments.
Lugo said activists have been picketing the restaurant since mid-December.
“The first time we came here the owner became very angry,” Lugo said. “He almost hit us with a fire extinguisher. The police came and advised him to leave us alone. [The police] said we have to have a moving picket line and not block the entrance. We’re happy to follow the rules.
“We’re giving an example to the police,” he added, chuckling, “because yesterday they did not follow regulations; they blocked Church Street between Chapel and Elm Street.” The state’s attorney is now investigating a Thursday protest by 200 cops who spontaneously shut down downtown streets to protest police layoffs.
“I’m sure we’re causing an effect on the business of this guy,” Lugo said.
“We’re not going to stop this campaign until we get an agreement from the owner to pay the $23,000 he owes the workers,” Lugo declared. “But we also want him to promise on record that he’s not going to violate the rights of any workers in the future.”