Victory at Scoop NYC!

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NEW YORK, NY –Workers at the high-end clothing retailer Scoop NYC have won a victory that comes after a year of organizing, public demonstrations, and legal action to make the company follow wage and hour laws and respect immigrant worker rights. The confidential settlement is also a significant victory for the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union’s Retail Action Project (RAP), an organization that is dedicated to improving wages and working conditions for retail workers.

In late 2008, 17 Scoop NYC workers joined RAP and filed complaints and launched a campaign against the company.

Scoop NYC, a high-end clothier that operates 11 stores nationwide, allegedly required stock and security workers to labor 60 or more hours per week for over six years without paying the legal overtime rate. Some workers contend they were discriminated against on the basis of their national origin because Scoop refused to accept their legal work authorization papers.

Madou Kone, a former Scoop NYC security supervisor said “This is a great victory for all the workers and for RAP. I really appreciate the support we got from RAP and the community in this fight for justice.”

With the help of RAP, and the workers’ rights law firm of Cary Kane LLP, workers filed two complaints against Scoop NYC, one seeking paid overtime and the second, which was filed at the U.S. Department of Justice, alleging discrimination based on national origin. The settlement with the company covers both cases.

“Because many retail workers are not properly paid and many others suffer from poverty wages, we have joined the fight to pass the Wage Theft Prevention Act at the State level and the Fair Wages for New Yorkers Act in New York City,” said Jeff Eichler, the lead New York City organizer for the Retail Wholesale and Department Store Union. “Not only must we ensure that legal wages are paid retail workers but we must lift the wage floor for retail workers by making sure they are paid a living wage.”

In July 2009, RAP organized a large demonstration outside Scoop NYC’s flagship store in SoHo to announce the lawsuit against the trendy clothing retailer. Then in February 2010, workers participated in the March of Hearts up Broadway in which they again marched on Scoop NYC’s SoHo retail location. RAP members from Mystique Boutique and Shoe Mania also participated in the march.

About RAP
The Retail Action Project (RAP) is a labor community partnership between the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) and Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES). Working with private attorneys and with the New York State Attorney General’s Labor Bureau office, RAP has helped workers win nearly $2 million dollars in back-pay awards. RAP has also aided in the arrest of retail owners who have engaged in wage theft. For more information, visit http://www.retailactionproject.org and http://www.rwdsu.org.

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