DETROIT — This week, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued an order that Andiamo Restaurant illegally cut the hours of, intimidated, and retaliated against servers and other restaurant workers in seeking to squash workers from participating in a lawsuit and protest against workplace violations at its Andiamo Restaurant in Dearborn.

The NLRB settlement order requires that Andiamo Restaurant pay back pay to a server, and also requires that Andiamo Restaurant pledge to no longer subject employees to coercive interrogations, surveillance, threats of termination, or require as a condition of employment that all employees sign a legal document stating that if they participate in a lawsuit against the restaurant, they could be responsible for Andiamo Restaurant’s legal fees.  “Andiamo Restaurant used fear and illegal threats to try to keep workers from coming forward,” says Naome Debebe-Bogale, a former server at Andiamo Restaurant in Dearborn and one of the workers who filed charges against the restaurant.  “I hope that other workers see that it’s ok to stand up for your rights.”

As the economy falters, a spike in wage complaints has been reported across the country.  “Workers’ rights are being trampled, at the time when they need their wages and their right to speak up the most,” says Minsu Longiaru, the Coordinator of the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan (ROC-Michigan), a restaurant workers’ organization.  “All we are asking is that Andiamo Restaurant do the right thing.”Andiamo workers filed federal lawsuits and complaints alleging unpaid wages and discrimination violations with the support of the Restaurant Opportunities Center of Michigan (ROC-Michigan) in January, 2010.  Restaurant workers and their supporters have been holding weekly protests outside of Andiamo Restaurant in Dearborn in which over 1,000 individuals have participated.