Tackle Box Restaurant Pays Up Under Pressure From DC Wage Theft Coalition

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)With signs and chants at the ready, dozens of activists from the DC Wage Theft Coalition stood quietly outside the Tackle Box restaurant in Georgetown yesterday as workers went inside to collect more than $4,000 in back wages owner Jonathan Umbel had now agreed to pay. As they waited to see if Umbel would come through, members of local unions and community groups – the Washington Building & Construction Trades Council (WBCTC), UFCW 400, Unite Here 25, DC Employment Justice Center, DC Jobs with Justice, La Union de Trabajadores, Georgetown student Solidarity Committee – shared stories of why they were there. “People from all different industries face wage theft” said WBCTC’s Stephen Courtien (above at left). “We are in the fight for workers’ rights, too,” added Jose Benitez, a worker at Wings who has been on strike for three years. Cheers erupted as the three Tackle Box workers left the restaurant announcing that they had been paid. “It’s really thanks to the protest,” said Jose Ramirez, who won back wages from the restaurant, adding that the workers had no success in speaking to management until there was a crowd supporting them outside. “We’ve learned that working as a group in coalition,” said Carlos Castillo of La Union de Trabajadores, “we can accomplish so much.” - report/photos by Julia Kann