Brooklyn, NY – For more than a year, Ari Hart had struggled in his protest against unfair labor practices.
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Seeking justice for immigrant workers allegedly fired by a Brooklyn kosher food distributor, Hart had held signs, made phone calls, organized protest events and persuaded grocery stores and companies to boycott the distributor.
But nothing had worked. Flaum Appetizing Corp., which allegedly fired 16 workers in 2007 after they demanded the legal minimum overtime pay, would not give in to the former employees’ demands.
In 2009, the National Labor Relations Board ordered Flaum’s owner, Moshe Grunhut, to pay the workers. He refused to comply, arguing that the workers were undocumented immigrants. The NLRB did not accept the claim.
Grunhut also said the workers had quit voluntarily.
Hart, who co-founded the Orthodox social justice group Uri L’Tzedek, had a few brief conversations with Grunhut, but they ended without compromise.
Hart’s fortunes changed with a phone call in February. Grunhut was on the line. The owner had been feeling the pressure, too.
“He expressed to me his feelings,” Hart told JTA. He said he told Grunhut, “We need to resolve this, and you’ve been found guilty. You’re going to have to pay.”
Full story at JTA
Does he only do these types of stuff for jewish companies like Flaum’s and Agriprocessors or non-jewish companies too? In other words what’s his agenda?
The unions are a bunch of bums. They are destroying the economy.
He should never give in.
If you dont like the work get a new job, if you take a job paying $3 an hr then thats your pay – end of story
Ari Hart is a musser and ganiv – ultimitly he is the one who will pay for all the money Flaum lost – thats just the way the world works
I know the owner Moshe for many years, i had never met such a nice,well respected person, a guy with his full heart ALWAYS for other people in need. ita a shame that people for their own agenda are ready to destroy such a man. We are in big trouble in what times we live…..we better move ASAP.
To the expat above in comment 2: Do you think NAFTA allows you to not pay workers? To mistreat them grievously? To pay them under minimum wage? Do you think these things should be ok in America? That’s what Flaum’s did. In the old days, you say someone would have taken out Rabbi Hart’s kneecaps. Is that the reward for someone who asks Jews to obey God’s commandments?
I appreciate your perspective though. Allows me to concretize the Jews in Neviim.
Can’t help but wonder if the workers would to the same for him if the situation was reversed.
Boochie Says:
“If you dont like the work get a new job, if you take a job paying $3 an hr then thats your pay – end of story”
Actually, you are totally wrong. NY state has VERY strict labor laws. You MUST pay minimum wage and you MUST pay overtime after 40 hours. It appears that the company took advantage of poor immigrants, and you are blaming the victims?
Flaum had to settle. Most people don’t know this, but labor violations are absolutely enforceable against the owners. In other words, you can’t just shut down and refuse to pay; they can and will go after your personal assets.
Setting up shop in a location under NAFTA is a suggestion to take advantage of the laws if the business owner should find that necessary. The real point being made though, as well, is not to ignore the laws where you actually are doing business. I’m sure that hiring illegals was tempting though –many other costs of doing business are very high. I don’t agree with hiring illegals though -even for equivalent wages -it’s not helpful for a business or for them.
Sometimes people need to learn the HARD WAY, its an old saying VOOS BILLIG IZ TIEAIR, again dont Use or Abuse, NO One , again Old Testament, LOL VECHAI OICHICHA IEMOCH,, Dont look for Metzias,,,
If you pay me 3 bucks and hour and all the herring i can eat… I would except that and be in totally gan eden
I love these’s liberal do gooder’s working out of their ivory towers on Lexington ave fighting for the little man it’s sad that people who wear a Yarmulkah on their heads have joined such a crowd.
I don’t think they came to work for so little they probably got paid by the week meaning no matter how many hours they work they get the same pay that includes weeks like in the summer or Tom tov that they don’t work too many hours or they don’t work at all they still get paid
In the JTA article it says: “Uri L’Tzedek and Focus on the Food Chain say they recruited 120 stores to the boycott”, including the Israeli dairy producer Tnuva.
According to the Chafetz Chaim hilchas richilis chapter 9, it is forbidden to believe stories of people claiming some businessman robbed his workers. Even if all the information in the story is true and was witnessed first hand, the listener is only permitted to be choshesh unless a psak din was issued in which case he would be permitted to believe the story. Therefore, acting on that richilis and boycotting such a businessman (even if the entire story is factual) encompasses violations of NUMEROUS torah prohibitions (see intro to Chafetz Chaim).
So, disregarding whatever damages the people involved did to the businessman manufacturing kosher food (damages that could likely be beyond what a bes din would have allowed), the people fighting for “justice” made stumbling blocks leading the people involved in 120 stores to accept richilous and act on it. So while they got half a million dollars for a dozen goyim that were “robbed”, they caused spiritual harm to hundreds of innocent Jews.
they should do like Stella Dora cookies did. They moved to North Carolina. Much cheaper overhead, and favorable labor laws.
What’s the Haloocha regarding such a man like Ari Noheart
?
Kok hakovod to Ari Hart for fighting and winning on behalf of the powerless and exploited workers. Its too bad that this guy Grunhut is not keeping company with another ehrliche yid from Iowa who also had problems following the laws including labor laws and is now a long-term guest of the U.S. taxpayer.
Regardless of your opinion as to what’s fair or not, is completely irrelevant. The law is the law. Mr. Greenhut and or his was an idiot for flouting very clear laws. Either he was a fool or he was terribly misguided by his lawyer or CPA- maybe both. Lawyers want to “lawyer”…. Litigation is very profitable.
I am the victim of a truly questionable employee hatchet job and am now completely
“by the book” with employees I’d rather treat as completely “by the heart” I.E. “…hey Jim I know you had some extra expenses last month so here’s 5-6 hundred extra”.
Well guess what folks: you cannot apply that towards his or her “overtime” claim.
Even If the employee came late and never even ended up working overtime according to the rules, you’ve gotta pay. I learned the hard way. I’ve given this particular employee THOUSANDS dollars in forgiven loans- which were clearly made out by check and clearly forgiven with a gracious note- none of which was denied by the employee- his attorney just smiled at me with a brazen chutzpah….
Please know too, that there are attorney’s who live, no, thrive on these cases.
The “client” doesn’t need to shell out 1 DIME because the lawyers get paid from the proceeds. My advice is to SETTLE SETTLE SETTLE!!! So you can move on with your life.
THE FACT REMAINS. DO NOT HIRE ILLEGALS. PERIOD. There are millions of American citizens that need jobs. At the end of the day it would have been less expensive to hire legal employees and pay the fair wage. Why doesn’t someone try to sneek into Mexico, get a job as an illegal and see what happens. Illegal workers are not entitled to any rights. The only right they have is to be sent back from whence they came. It is time taxpaying Americans stop paying for education, healthcare, welfare, housing and everything else for illegal immigrants. And I’m not just refering to Mexicans. That goes for all nationalities that are here illegally, including Israelis