Nineteen employees from Blaze Pizza, located near the University of Minnesota, are celebrating a $28,000 settlement. The employees filed complaints with the city's Department of Civil Rights after finding out they were being underpaid.
Sydney Kuran is one of the workers who will receive back pay from Blaze Pizza. The college senior says it took three months, to realize she was "valued below minimum wage."
"My former co-workers reached out to me with a number of a representative at Roc Minnesota," said Kuran. "I'd heard of them earlier, before everything had gotten to the point of oblivion, but I felt too busy to reach out, until---I felt pushed over my limit."
Restaurant Opportunities Center, or ROC, is an advocacy group for restaurant workers. ROC, helped Kuran and her co-workers file the complaint.
President of ROC-United, Dr. Sekou Siby calls the settlement a victory, but warns that wage theft is too common, especially for workers in the service industry.
"The Department of Labor, reports there are more wage violations in the restaurant industry, than any other industry in the United States. What really breaks my heart is, the workers who have been robbed by the employers, are the workers who make the lowest wage in America," he said.
Councilwoman Robin Wonsley Worlobah, represents ward 1, where the Blaze Pizza is located. She says young people are often victims of wage-theft.
"Because we have both the University of Minnesota and Augsburg, we often see, students are usually victims, to wage-theft situations."
The councilwoman says she will work towards strengthening wage-theft enforcement.
ROC-United is also planning to address wage-theft and other ills in the restaurant industry by drafting a Bill of Rights for restaurant workers.
BILL OF RIGHTS, FOR RESTAURANT WORKERS?
"The restaurant worker bill of rights will systematically address challenges and injustices including wage theft, and discrimination, that workers and especially women, and people of color face every day," said Dr. Siby.
Dr. Siby says the Restaurant Worker Bill of Rights will be introduced around Labor Day. He also says he is confident legislatures across the country will adopt.
In the meantime, Blaze Pizza workers, ROC and others are celebrating the settlement.
"In the end, the fight has been worth it," said Kuran, " I hope our case inspires other Minneapolis workers to band together and fight for their rights."
Workers not covered in the settlement are encouraged to contact the city's Department of Civil Rights, or sue previous management in small claims court.