FLOC pickets Asian Buffet restaurant

April 27, 2009: Members of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) picketed the Asian Buffet at 2769 W. Central Avenue, Toledo, on Friday and Saturday in support of two employees who are being refused pay after working 12 days at the restaurant.

Asian Buffet laid off the two employees after having used a contracting agency in Nashville, Tennessee to recruit these workers and then transporting them to Ohio for work.

According to the two workers, the contracting agency charged a fee of 500 dollars for each worker. Asian Buffet paid this fee to the agency and has now collected from the two workers by refusing to pay them. The two workers recall signing a document before they were transported to Toledo, Ohio for work, but they do not know what the document said and they were not given a copy.

According to a FLOC press release, the two workers were promised work for a long period of time and if they would have known that they were going to get laid off after only 12 days of work they would have not ventured to Ohio. 

After a number of events the workers finally sought help, and eventually were directed to FLOC headquarters. FLOC staff visited with the owner of the Asian Buffet to resolve this issue, but the owner still refused to pay. This visit led to the two-day picket this past weekend.

For more information, contact Sesario Duran at (419) 243-3456 ext 6.