Restaurant workers of the world, unite! You have nothing to lose but your tips. The burgeoning restaurant labor movement showed itself at City Hall last night, in the form of a protest in favor of the Responsible Restaurant Act, which would require restaurant owners to report labor violations to the Health Department. The Health Department, already knee deep in rats, opposes the law, as does (predictably) the Restaurant Association of New York. A rash of lawsuits over the last couple of years has been filed by workers who claim to be underpaid, taken advantage of, and (especially) ripped off by management skimming their tips, and who want some legal recourse besides a long and costly suit. The law, or one like it, would provide them with ongoing protection. “Restaurants don’t even hide it,” waiter Jody Deyo told Metro. “They know they have 100 people who would line up for your job.“

Food Workers Want Fair Deal [Metro NY]