New York Communities for Change and Retail, Wholesale, and Department Store Local 338 have been involved in an ongoing campaign to improve conditions for low-wage supermarket workers in the city, and some of its focus is on Church Ave:
As part of the campaign, Mr. Schwartz sent a letter to the owner of a third shop—Golden Farm in Flatbush [sic: it's confirmed this is the Golden Farm here on Church and East 4th]—threatening a suit by next week if he did not negotiate over minimum wage and overtime violations against a dozen employees. Workers there are trying to organize a union and Local 338 filed for an election Tuesday.
Sonny Kim, the owner of Golden Farm, said his lawyer has been working for four months to bring the situation to a close, negotiating with the state Department of Labor, which is demanding back wages and penalty payments. “We're trying to settle,” he said.
This is a sad thing to hear about a local business that's so popular, but hopefully a settlement is reached and the issues are resolved for the future.
Unfortunately, it's not uncommon for grocery store employees to face minimum wage and overtime law violations. Crain's sites a study that shows low-wage workers in New York City "lose almost 15% of their earnings due to labor violations—$58 each per week, or $3,016 every year."
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