Share to: Welcome to post comments I want to comment Last year, Wang Guoliang decided to file a complaint with the state labor bureau for help. Later, he received assistance from lawyers at the Chinese Progressive Association and the Asian Law Alliance, specifically lawyer Angela Go, to demand unpaid wages from the two restaurant owners, and was ultimately successful.
According to a February 17 report by China News Service citing the World Journal in the United States, over a year ago, Wang Guoliang worked as a waiter at a Vietnamese beef noodle restaurant in the new Chinatown area of San Francisco's Richmond District. A man stole a hunting rifle from a garage and held up a bank on New Year’s Day with the gun but was caught. Wang Guoliang was required by his boss to work 12 hours a day, six to seven days a week. During his shifts, he had no rest time, and he discovered that other workers who were being exploited were too afraid to protest. Under Wang Guoliang's leadership, the State Labor Bureau and the Chinese Progressive Association jointly announced on the 15th that eight workers, including Wang Guoliang, collectively received over $316,000 in compensation from their employer.
At the age of 63, Wong Cheuk-chuen said that he had worked at this restaurant for four years, knowing that his boss was depriving him of his rightful welfare wages. But due to life circumstances, he dared not fight back. Finally, because Wang Guoliang bravely organized all the workers to seek help from the State Labor Bureau, they were able to reclaim their rightful wages and benefits, which gave him a sense of relief.
Wang Guoliang worked at the restaurant for about half a year during which he found that all the workers at the two beef noodle restaurants were treated similarly, working six to seven days a week without any breaks during their shifts, and all tips paid by customers were collected by the boss, leaving the workers without any tip income.
Wang Guoliang, a 50-year-old Vietnamese-Chinese immigrant who moved to the U.S. in 1982, accepted an invitation from the boss's wife to work as a waiter at her restaurant when he dined there in 2010. Wang Guoliang stated that although he was told to start work at 10 a.m., he could not leave until 6 p.m., and was required to continue working until after 10 p.m. every night, earning only $75 per day.
California Labor Bureau enforcement staff member Qinghong Chen pointed out that the state takes very seriously complaints about employers failing to pay their employees' salaries. In the last fiscal year alone, they helped workers across California recover $28 million, an increase of 42% over the previous fiscal year.
Chinese Progressive Association's Maui Liu expressed that through collaboration with the Asian Law Caucus, the State Labor Bureau, and the City of San Francisco Minimum Wage Commission, they successfully reached a settlement agreement with the Vietnamese restaurant owners, securing an hourly wage of $5.20 for eight workers including Wang Guoliang, far below the $10.24 mandated by the City of San Francisco. The association will continue to pursue unpaid wages for more workers.
On the 15th, the Chinese Progressive Association and the Asian Law Caucus celebrated the victory of the "Stop Wage Theft" campaign in Chinatown, successfully recovering the rightful wages for workers like Wang Guoliang. Launched in May last year, the campaign involved collaboration with other labor organizations to strengthen the promotion of various labor regulations and information, encouraging workers to report employers violating the rules. Under the impetus of the Chinese Progressive Association, the city council passed a resolution supporting the campaign against wage theft.
The Vietnamese restaurant owners, a married couple surnamed Chen of Chinese-Vietnamese descent, agreed to compensate the workers $316,000. The couple originally operated a Pho Clement beef noodle restaurant at the intersection of Clemont Street and Fourth Street in the new Chinatown area of Richmond District, then opened a second restaurant of the same name at 5423 Geary Boulevard. The restaurant at Geary Boulevard has now closed, while the one in the new Chinatown has been renamed "Duo Hao Beef Noodle."