Despite the restaurant industry’s importance to New York City, the restaurant workforce union density is only at 1%. ROC-NY therefore works to build a base of power and win justice among non-unionized restaurant workers who face exploitative and abusive workplaces.
Through a combination of worker organizing and empowermnet, litigation, and public pressure, ROC-NY wins back unpaid wages and discrimination claims for these workers as well as important changes in the industry, such as vacations, paid sick days, mandated breaks, and more. In the last six years, we have won nine campaigns against abusive restaurants, totaling over $4.5 million in discrimination and unpaid wages.
In addition to our own targeted campaign work, our victories also lay the ground in fostering leadership through our membership. Members are trained in campaign organizing and in harnessing the power and energy in their own co-workers to make the New York City restaurant industry a better place to work in.
