Amato's Pizza Sees Worker Backlash
Walking along Queen West with friends yesterday it was hard to miss a group of 4 young women protesting outside popular local eatery, Amato's pizza.
According to the girls (and their pizza slice shaped pamphlets), the protest is against Amato's because of one worker being owed $8,000 in wages. She insists that she's not the only one owed wages and that after months of broken promises, it's come to this.
On the flyer were all the phone #'s for the Amato's execs. We phone 'em up. The president hasn't got a machine or someone taking his calls. He's happy to answer, hears our complaint and then asks if he can give us more perspective.
He tell us the whole tangled story... how the worker was fired a while back and that it isn't straight pay, but severance/back-wages she's owed. How they've already dealt with lawyers and how payment is just in processing but that the worker has decided to picket until she sees the cheque. He tells the whole story, calmly saying that he's happy to answer questions as he has nothing to hide.
Impressed, we decide not to banish delicious Amato's.
Question now though... Slick President or psychotic employee? Neither? Both? We'll probably stay out of it. ;)
Comments (69)
People who write blogs on sites such as these generally feel responsible for making the public aware of various local issues, whether negative or positive. As a result, I'm absolutely appalled at how little research you must have done prior to writing this blog. First of all, I was at the protest on Sunday during which you must have taken the above posted photo. I do not recall seeing you speaking to the employee in question once. I've since confirmed this with her. In fact, you did not ask her for details, but merely read a brief summary on a flyer prepared by the worker's action centre. I can say without fear of contradiction that there are several former (and likely current) Amato employees that are owed large sums of money by management. I've personally met three through the worker's action centre protests. You likely could have discovered this quite easily on your own had you bothered asking.
Also, your article seems to suggest that Amato is somehow justfied in not paying the employee in question simply because a large amount of the money owed is severance. In Canada, if fired, you're entitled to severance pay. Its a basic right - and one which I can only assume you'd demand for yourself. Again, something you could have found out had you googled canadian worker rights.
The employee in question is not 'picketing until she sees the promised cheques'. She's picketing until she's given certified cheques/cash, because most of the cheques she's received from Amato have bounced (I've had several other employees, both current and former, confirm that many of their cheques bounce as well). So, not only is she not receiving payment, her credit has suffered due to Amato's negligence.
Whereas the owner was pleasant on the phone with you, you clearly were not present during past protests in which one of the owners was violent (verbally AND physically) with several women! (this includes a protest outside the St. Clair location where the manager came outside and smacked a handful of flyers out of the hand of a pregnant woman - Amato customers were so appalled they immediately left and gave the woman their phone numbers in order to testify as witnesses should she choose to press charges). The police have been called in on several occasions, both on college st and queen st, due to one particular owner's actions.
Now, imagine you worked at a job for six years, didn't receive pay for the last two and a half months, and were then fired for no apparent reason. Imagine your basic rights as a Canadian worker were being denied, and you had no reason to believe that you were going to be compensated anytime in the near future. A friendly phone manneurism on the part of the person who so brutally denied you of your rights really wouldn't make you feel better about it. I'm glad that the owner was kind to you on the phone - that really doesn't justify unpaid labour.
I've come to know the employee in question quite well over the past few months as a result of attending the protests organized by the worker's action centre. Having spoken to her on the phone, I can assure you she's pleasant to speak with as well. Maybe this will help ignorant writers respect her should she ever choose to break the law.
Glad you were impressed, though.
Perhaps the most appalling comment in your close-minded, nonsensical article is the following:
'Question now though... Slick President or psychotic employee? Neither? Both? We'll probably stay out of it. ;)'
Ignoring the problem doesn't mean that there isn't one. If you're going to publicize your opinion, don't sit on the fence. Get off your ass, do some more research, grow a spine and make a decision. Being ignorant privately is one thing - publicizing your sloth and stupidity is really just harmful.
WHAT?!? This is happening and it's not the first story on the evening news!?
Ella, she didn't ignore it. She actually called and spoke to the president. AND THEN BLOGGED ABOUT IT.
MOST people, ignore AND don't even bother to read clever flyers in the shape of pizza slices.
(Myself, for example- can't care less..I know not being paid for your work is shitty, but wasn't there a lawyer involved??)
I feel sorry for the writer who actually bothered with this, to only have you write such a pleasant comment and straight out attack her.
my roomate worked at amato for 4 months. they had major problems with cheques bouncing so they started giving him cash. within a month or two it became harder to get the cash...soon he quit after chasing the owners for $. he is still owed $800. he just gave up and im sure there are alot out there who have been in the same position.
Find it entirely too amusing that the rants surrounding an accusation of one-sidedness seem awfully one-sided themselves, in the other direction. Give the author a bit of a break, wouldya? Seems they did a light pass on both sides, which is more than a *lot* of bloggers would have done. Readers ALWAYS have it in their power to go out, find more information from both sides of the story. But of course, we could just believe Ella instead and save ourselves the time and energy. [sarcasm]
Definitely not taking sides here, Ella... In no way did I "disrespect" her in my post. If you read through, you'd we even called Amato's to back her up. My final comment is a matter of pointing out, that either side may seem totally in the right depending on who's doing the talking.
Furthermore, it's not up to me to make that decision... i'm just an observer on the streets. Our readers aren't here for spoonfed opinions, they can check things out for themselves if they really want to.
Good luck in the fight... hope things work out.
Ella,
Maybe next time 'said worker' could take the time to post more meaningful information on the clever 'pizza' flyers being handed out at the protest.
I called Giuseppe personally, a bit angry at first, to inform him that from the details I received from this flyer I was no longer supporting Amatos.
Surprised I even reached him (and not his voicemail), he asked for a minute of my time to explain his side, at which point I agreed with him that what took place with the former employee was a horrible situation, but that it was in the midst of being resolved and had come to a resolution.
In the end? I took the information given, and the information received on the phone, and came to the resolution that both sides lose out - and I will still go to Amatos.
Don't go on an ignorant rant when it was the mistake of those who created the flyers to provide access to someone (Giuseppe) who can provide a countervoice.
Did he lie to us? Is the former employer lying to us? Are you lying to us? There is not enough information - so next time, why don't you provide a bit more insight instead of going on an angry rant about how she only "read a brief summary on a flyer".
Maybe next time the "workers action centre" should help to make a more useful flyer that provides contact numbers to the employees - not 50% brief summary and 50% executive phone numbers.
What did the former Amatos employee expect us to do? Phone Guiseppe, tell him to "fuck off" and hang up? Please. Get a grip, Ella.
"He tell us the whole tangled story... how the worker was fired a while back and that it isn't straight pay, but severance/back-wages she's owed."
I am confused... so the owner admits that Amato did not pay the worker wages (and thereby broke the law), but you have no problem giving the owner more of your money?
Yeah, if i need a $2.69 pizza I'll spend it... and I'll leave a tip as usual.
He was straight up with what happened, apologetic and said it had already been dealt with legally and that she was going to be paid. I appreciate the guy actually talking to us (2 random people on the street) and hearing our complaints about what was happening to the workers.
Whether he's earnest or a smooth talker is up in the air.
In the end, even if don't take either side, this is still hardly an instance of good press.
But my concern is that he broke the law. Why are we rewarding him?
Also, I am bit skeptical of his claim that the money is being "processed". How long does it take to pay wages? I, unfortunately, how too much experiences with deadbeats and this sounds too much like "the cheque is in the mail."
Perplexed - these are definitely not questions any of us can really address to any useful degree. If you want to get some answers from the source, go for it:
President, Giuseppe Colantonio - 416-708-5049
Treasurer, Walter Cerneka - 647-222-2227
This info provided on the "flyer" protesters were handing out.
By all means, report back too!
Tanja (I like the name btw),
I called Giuseppe and what a sleaze!
I asked him about what's going on and he actually told me that they paid the $8,000. And then I said, "but on the internet, you told this other person that you are in the process of paying."
The Amato guy then gets all stumbly and says, "Well, I meant that we are in about to pay it and it should be done soon."
I then got tricky and told him that i talked to other workers too that did not get paid (I actually don't know). The Amato guy then says, "everyone else is lying too. We paid off every body."
How many workers does he owe!?!?
It's unreal that I managed to stumble on this.
The Amato owners are a bunch of world-class crooks. A friend of mine worked at Amato at Queen and John. When Amato interviewed her, they told her she'll get $7.45 minimum wage. After she started working there, they told her that cashiers make $6. My friend was a recent refugee so she didn't know better.
You know what? And they never paid her a cent. She got fired for no reason after few months and they owed her like 2000 bucks. She kept calling and calling and the Amato guy'd smooth talk her into believing how they will pay her tomorrow or next week or whatever.
I am glad someone is finally standing up to those crooks.
i worked at the queen west location of amato for about a year and it was the worst job that i've ever had.
it was the most uncomfortable, chauvinistic atmosphere i've ever encountered in my life. it was filthy and the bosses were totally rude and disprespectful. at one point during my time there, a fellow employee was sexually assaulted by another employee. when i convinced her to talk to the boss with me about this incident he simply dismissed it as her word against his. in a typically slick and evasive way, he basically told us to shut up about it or quit.
the owners at this place know how to manipulate the public by maintaining a calm and friendly air with their customers. this is not in any way reflective of their very alternate treatment of their workers. having first been a customer and then later an employee, i actually remember being amazed at the "jekyll/hyde" attitude the owners had between the customers and the staff. before i started my job there, i had always found the owners to be exceedingly polite and friendly. but after experiencing amato from the inside it was very clear to see that the work atmosphere at most locations (and certainly at the queen west location), is one of intimidation, disrespect and neglegience.
i am not at all surprised at this "controversy", and having personally experienced the amato ethic regarding their treatment of employees, there is no doubt in my mind about who's in the right. it's too bad that people are so generally skeptical or unwilling to support the underdog or reluctant to give up the cheap pizza that they would consider dismissing this issue as nothing more than a "psychotic employee". it takes a lot more than one psychotic employee to organize a small protest and enlist the help of a worker's rights group - it takes corrupt bosses (yes there really was a greasy man in a trenchcoat who collected money from the register every night), withheld cheques/sexual harrassment, general sketchiness, and a fundamental lack of integrity and fairness. having worked there myself, i can guarantee that amato has all the ingredients for both cheap pizza and a glaring disrespect for the rights of it's employees.
i wouldn't have wasted time writing this if i didn't hope that someone reading might just take my word for it and join in the boycott. i'll never have all the info and details of this particular woman's battle with amato, but having seen this operation from the inside, i know that i'll never eat there again.
thanks and goodnight.
Now, we are getting the real story here... It really interesting to see the posts come in about this company.
Thanks Erica/Ella for posting again. I look forward (though it's unfortunate) to seeing who else comes forward. Try not to be so cynical and judgemental about my intentions with a post. A forum has been created for you to tell your story. It's a good thing.. and the point of online media like this.
This is the way all stories should be told... community reporting. Not one opinion being fed, but dozens coming together.
seeing as it appears you have been monitering these comments miss tanja, kindly check your email
I attend these protests to show my support. Besides the fact that this business owes this ex-worker all this money (which he admitted to), I personally think this protest is very important because it gets the message across that employers cannot get away with doing this to their workers. Do you know how many people have walked by me and told me how the same thing is happening/happened to them at their work and how glad they are that FINALLY someone is doing this? And I am not talking about people who use to work at Amato either. This is getting the message across to employers that this is not right and there is going to be a cost to breaking the law and and fucking over people's rights. I know there are people who do not want to support these kinds of businesses and would like to know that it is going on.
Anyway Tanja, I remember seeing you there just taking pictures. I really do not understand why you didn't take the time to speak to ANY of us since you were right there to get HER side of the story. Unless you just read those "clever pizza sliced pamphlets" and thought that's all you needed to hear from us. A lot of people who read the flyers that we hand out still take the time to come over and talk to us about it and ask questions, which would have been a good thing to do on your part. Instead, you chose to not do that and just call the president and get his side of the story and mention that "He tell us the whole tangled story..." while the the ex-worker "insists that she's not the only one owed wages"?.
How can you say "Question now though... Slick President or psychotic employee"? He's slick because he was nice to you on the phone? He admitted to owing the employee this money and it shouldn't be taking MONTHS for her to get some money at least. Because this money is entitled to her and she's letting people know what is going on and besides all the stress it's causing her, that might make her psychotic? Are you kidding me?
As I've received e-mails as well as another post with the same messages written again, I'll post my view once more for the masses (this was also e-mailed to the girl/protester in question):
It appears you are mainly upset due to the line "Slick president or psychotic employee." If you will look at this in its context, you can see that nothing derogative was written about you.
Read past the one word, to understand that the point was to illustrate that either side may appear in the right depending on who is doing the talking. While your side may paint the owner as slick with words
(and probably correct as thats what it sounded like), he paints you as just being crazed. No one is actually calling you that. It is a comment on each side depicts the other.
As for not taking your side automatically:
This is how stories are told online. I'm presenting the story. I'm not
writing on behalf of you or behalf of Amato's.
I'm presenting an event that
is happening and letting the community on the site contribute to what the
story is. I understand your plight and I also understand that it is not my position to be taking sides. What I can do for you is create a public forum for others to come forward and a place for thousands of people who don't walk on Queen St West to hear about the situation. I'm sorry that you and your friends are upset that I didn't come out cheering for your fight, but that's not my place. That's yours and I'm giving you a voice on the online side of things.
As you can see, the story has developed with plenty of people joining in and has receiving a number of hits. Word is spreading about what is happening at Amato's... and it will probably benefit your battle.
Thanks for visiting the site, and I hope you'll encourage others to use this forum, responsibly, to help bring the truth forward.
After reading your article, it really seems like you were/are taking sides and that's what's upsetting me. We weren't asking you to come out cheering for our fight, just that you should have talked to someone first on the other side and not just post one side of the story for all the public to see.
tanja, agreed with sharon of course.
your little piece about this issue, MY issue, was one sided in the way that you took the time to ask the owner his side but didnt bother asking me...even after i wrote and asked you to!
letting the public know about the issue is not what you have done and it is not "my job" to post everything on here its yours as the "writer"
if you dont agree/believe me, ask and if you dont care to then why bother with all this at all?
good times, hope youre enjoying all this and when you actually care about this situation, please, email me
PS. i protest as often as i can, i dont need a blog to spread the word to all your friends that check it
I see that Tanja didn't actually call the girl a "psycho" but I can see how someone can offended by that.
I am just thinking about how frustrating it must be for a person to be literally treated as a slave and when she fights for her rights, she get branded as a psycho by a passerby.
I don't think tanja meant anything too mean by it though. The real villian is Amato! :)~
tanjia,
my first impression of your post was certainly not that you were avoiding forming an opinion on the issue.
when you write twice in the same paragraph: "he tell(sic) us the whole tangled story . . . he tells us the whole story" it certainly gives the impression that you are taking the side of the business in question. clearly this is, in fact, just his side of the story, and not "the whole" story.
more importantly, if you end your post with the remark "impressed, we decide not to banish delicious Amato's", this is an even more biased angle to what you seem to be defending as "objective reporting". the topic you are writing about is a protest. the protest is aimed at encouraging customers to boycott amato. if you conclude this post with stating that you decided not to boycott amato, then you are very clearly "taking a side".
"Question now though... Slick President or psychotic employee? Neither? Both? We'll probably stay out of it." this final sentence, in contrast to the general tone of the post, appears as little more than a weak disclaimer at the end of an angled perspective. i am not suggesting that this angle is extreme, but anyone who is aiming at unbiased writing should realise how truly difficult this is to accomplish and be able to recognize the subtle slant they may be taking.
i appreciate your effort to offer a forum where people can express different viewpoints, but at least be clear about your own. the original entry on this page was definetly not a balanced perspective. i'd like to think that maybe you wanted it to be, so that hopefully you can reread it more carefully and admit that it wasn't.
thanks for your time,
erica
You guys are missing a very crucial point that Tanja is bringing up. I know your battle must be frustrating - I can't even imagine how long you've been protesting for - but there is a point to all this.
'Worker' handed us a flyer, amidst the screams of 'anti-Amatos' rhetoric coming from the storefront on Queen West. Most people would throw this flyer out, and disregard the whole protest as there are so many protests happening all the time it's become commonplace.
You caught our eyes. You made a clever handout, in the shape of a pizza - it's sad that the shape of said flyer made it more interesting to read, but I'm being honest here. Half of the flyer involved the details of what you were protesting about, half of it had - in large font - the executive phone numbers to the 'suits' at Amatos.
You had our attention - you told us your story, we had somewhere to go and couldn't stop to talk - but we took the time to read what you gave us on our way to where we were going. We took the time to read your flyer.
We also took the time to call up Giuseppe and voice our concerns - as we had heard a bit of your side, and it was enough to get us to call him in outrage - I started the phone call with "I was about to go buy a pizza at your Queen West store but decided not to due to the protest". As you know, he went on to explain that 'worker' was a nuisance, has been doing this for a while even though the issue was resolved, and that she was getting her money.
Why would you hand out a flyer with contact information to someone who is notoriously a liar, and a smooth talker? Which makes me think said 'worker' just wants us to bitch out the guy and hang up without listening to him.
Obviously from the stories I've heard coming out of this discussion I've come to a much different conclusion - but don't berate those who took the time to read the literature you created, and were handing out, and even utilized to help your fight.
I say this honestly - good luck to all those involved in this battle, and I hope you get back what you rightly deserve.
In the meantime - if you want people to stop and talk to you, then do so - stop us and talk to us. If you want us to read about your plight, create a new flyer that won't cause the confusion that was the catalyst for this post in the first place.
If anything, your story is getting more exposure, and definitely more clearer.
I love how my wording and sentence structure is being analyzed for hate now. lol. come on.
Why are you girls (or girl) so convinced I'm out to get you? 'Cause i said Amato's is delicious? They're likely to be absolute crooks here, but the underpaid chefs have always done a fine job.
*I* am not the enemy here.
Use this space to voice your opinions on the issue (if it's important to you), not on me or my comma placement.
its called a blog. stop reading it if you hate it so much. you workers sound like you're angled. there seems to be no way that you can be wrong. BIASED. so stop telling people about being angled when you're just trying to push them the other direction.
tanja,
i was analysing the points you made in the post, not your "wording and sentence structure" . . . if i had bothered to do that it would have been a much longer comment hahaha . . .
anyway, there's really no reason to take these criticisms as a personal attack. obviously many people who read this post considered it biased; obviously you are entitled to disagree.
i'd like to point out that i have nothing to do with amato or anyone involved in this protest, and i certainly don't consider you an "enemy". of course you're not "out to get" anyone; you just wrote a slightly careless and inconsiderate post which didn't give proper respect to the stress and hardship which lies behind unfortunate situations like this. it was inconsistent and didn't maintain a fair position toward the protesters.
obviously you are unwilling to consider that there might be some validity behind people's reactions to what you wrote. the reason for my petite dissection of your blurb was to shed some light on why you might be getting a negative reaction, but if you think that was unneccesary, well at least i tried.
as i said, i have nothing to do with this protest, but i have experienced first hand the grotesque misdeeds of this truly deplorable resaurant chain. i gave a brief descrition of my experiences there and i offered my opinion of your post. that's about all i have to contribute to this discussion. i certainly didn't make any personal attacks and anything that i picked apart was in reference to the ideas being exchanged and not trivialities such as spelling and grammer. if you are going to call attention to an issue which affects people's lives in a serious way, expect a serious response. if you aren't prepared to be criticized, then maybe you should avoid such contentious topics.
that's all i have to say. thanks to anyone who has respect for protesting workers, and boo to anyone who doesn't. bigup all the people calling out amato for their STRAIGHT WACKNESSS hahaha.
ciao bellas.
ps sorry to call you on another inaccuracy, but there are no "chefs" at amato, just exploited kurdish refugees (etc.)
erica,
You're still missing the massive point that the flyer these girls were handing out is creating more of a problem than a solution - the reason for all these posts in the first place.
It's glaringly obviously from the amount of negative posts against this place that something very shady is going on (and has been going on for a while now), which also makes me wonder why some would stick around working there for a year or more if they're not one of the "exploited kurdish refugees".
That's beside the point - the flyer was the catalyst for all this, and is obviously not working properly. Things need to change if the proper message needs to get out there.
What kind of idiot continues to go to work for TWO AND A HALF YEARS if they're not being paid?! Go be a candy striper and at least do some good. Maybe the owner just assumed that after not receiving pay for TWO AND A HALF YEARS that she just didn't want any.
greg - not two and half years, hunny, two and a half months. if you're gonna call people idiots, at least try and pretend you know what you're talking about, k?
>
Paul, No we didn't tell any of you the WHOLE story since none of you had time to talk to us, yet had the time to set up the camera, find a good angle of the protester and take I don't know how many pics.
A grand total of -one- picture from someone who is a photoblogger on the side (thus the good picture).
Yelling to passerbys isn't condusive to having a normal conversation. If your main action is to hand out flyers, you should have done a better job in creating a more detailed flyer instead of one that has the obvious purpose to harass owners/executives (which seems the case considering how disappointed everyone is that we happened to believe Giuseppe's initial comments to us over the phone).
Go back to the "worker's action centre" and get them to help you with something new to hand out if you're going to continue your protests with flyers.
Tell the whole story in the flyer (not 'merely' a brief summary) and don't give out phone numbers to executives who are experienced in "harbouring slaves, lying, and witholding large sums of money from employees".
The flyer was the catalyst for this post. The flyer was handed to us by protestors/'worker'. The flyer is inconcise.
once again, the ex-employees will not admit they could be wrong. their view of this situation is that they are 100% correct and want each and everyone one of us to agree with them. if they sound like they are wrong, they start going into gritty details about specific situations. paul is right. the protestors and their flyers have only made the situation worse. i don't know about everyone else, but someone yelling out phrases on a street does not mean "come here and talk to me". before all this, amatos was not known in my books. i think i'll go try them soon.
for real paul, take it down a notch
nobody is being accused of anything here i think you were doing fine explaining your piece a couple entries ago and should have left it at that
a flyer handed to people is ya, maybe going to be thrown away and honestly, the more brief the more likely people are to actually read the whole thing
the number being posted is from what i can tell the workers attempt to say hey, if you want more details, call them yourself and ask why she hasnt been paid yet
from attending previous protests myself i can say, if people actually care enough to read it, they really do care enough to walk back or turn around and ask someone for more details rather than merely grabbing a flyer, snapping a few photo than walking away only to get so defensive when asked why you didnt take the time to also talk to the worker!
take it easy tough guy!
Wow- I'll sympathize with the girls here. Why would they go to all that trouble if it wasn't legit?
This comment thread is a mess though- these arn't comments; it's an arguement. I suggest people list thier points in relation to the issue, not the article. The article is incredibly biased. The only reason I read it all was because I often eat at Amato's. That will change.
I'll put my boycott in.
Good luck with your struggle, girls. I know what it's like. My girlfriend waited over 6 months to get a single paycheque... and we had to go up against the big boys (Royal Bank, ADP, Mirvish) to get it back.
I hope you get your money. I might call that number tomorrow, out of curiosity.
Workers - my advice to you would be to beef up this flyer with a little more anti-Amato meat. I can't help but notice that all Tanja did was read it and follow your instructions - just as you spelled it out on pizza paper. Sure, cute idea - but maybe you should think about the contents and what might actually happen if all of your "passer-byers" called those numbers.
As for the president or whoever being "slick" - OF COURSE THEY ARE! I don't think Tanja meant anything all that GOOD by calling him that. I understood him being "slick" as being able to get away with murder in such a calm and polite way. Does it mean he was right? NO! Does it mean that he might manage to keep some of his customers? OF COURSE! If he knew that all of the workers and anti-Amato-ers were calling him, I'm sure he would tell them where to go. Like one of you said, there is definitely a Jekyll/Hyde attitude towards customers/workers.
I think poor Tanja's post has been blown out of proportion and, to tell you the truth, you're lucky she posted it in the first place. I, for one, had never heard about this until now. It definitely got you some good exposure as I'm only one of the many of us who will now probably stop giving these guys my money.
One thing I am still perplexed about...
The boss admitted to not paying the worker(s), but there are still people out there who will buy from there???
Also why are we blaming the victim?
And from what I understand from the posts, Amato still has not paid the worker (despite what they told us).
P.S. I called Giuseppe again (using a scottish accent!), and his story was different. This time, he told me that Amato didn't pay her, and won't pay her, because of the employee discounts and perks they gave her over the years add up to a lot.
"owed $8,000 in wages"
"he is still owed $800"
"they owed her like 2000 bucks"
Doesn't common sense dictate that if you aren't being paid, quit or stop working until you are being paid?
I find it hard to feel compassion for idiots who stay at a job that isn't paying them for months and months, and then bitching about it.
Wouldn't you start taking action after, oh I don't know, the first or second paycheque bounced?
What a lot of posters are forgetting is that there is an enormous power imbalance between workers and employers.
Employers have power over whether or not you're able to eat and pay the rent. And all too often employers use that power in some rather disgusting ways, particularly to folks in low-paying jobs.
So its not a case of this side says "this" and the other side says "that" and so the truth is somewhere in the mushy middle. That's the kind of crap that's drilled into our heads in the education system. But in real life, its bullshit.
For a worker to picket their employer (or ex-employer), particularly if they don't happen to be a member of a union takes an enormous amount of courage.
The worker not only jeopardizes their current employment, but possibly their future employment. Who wants to hire a "troublemaker"?
So if I see some minimum wage workers picketing an employer, I'm going to believe them...failing some pretty hard evidence to the contrary.
And from the other comments folks have said this employer has made, his story seems to keep shifting. So my bs-o-meter is going off the scale.
This is exactly why the majority of Italians have been driven out of T.O. All the whiny yuppie/WASP kids trying to take bully, take advantage of, and step on hard-working gentle Italians just like their parents, and their parents' parents did. This city makes me sick.
go to china. i'm sure its better. or the US. try that. MUST be better there...
Nate isn't blaming the victim. He's just pointing out their stupidity. No matter what anyone says, the employee should have quit a long time ago. Finding another minimum wage paying job isn't hard. The time and energy spent protesting far exceeds what it would cost to switch over.
Now you're all going to cuss about how thats not solving the problem. Well here's some news: this has been going on for centuries. There's no stopping it. So suck it up and move on.
So nodnarb, folks who earn minimum wage should just let their employers rip them off.
Well that sure as hell ain't the kind of world I want to have.
And "someguyinto" you're comments are so full of shit that I can smell it coming through my computer screen.
As for the original poster, if you're trying to get into a career in journalism, don't give up your day job.
ed, love how you cut up the commenters for making ignorant statements and then you end your own post with the exact same.
if anything, hopefully the girls (and guys?) have taken some of the advice posted here to better themselves in their fight.
hope they're doing well - it definitely ain't easy.
Well Travis what do you say when someone posts an item and the only view they have of the situation is from half-reading a leaflet...never stops and talks to the protestors or asks questions of them...and then pretty much does a full-blown interview with the other side...and that's setting aside the unequal power relationship between employee and employer.
Journalism is one thing it definitely ain't!
As for "someguyinto", I can't believe his incredibly twisted logic. He has insulted the entire Italian community IMHO.
FYI. there was no interview. we called him to bitch at him for maltreatment. Then he asked to talk us up.
The 'leaflet' wasn't half-read.
It was fully read from top to bottom. Not only that, Ed, but we took things even further by calling a number on the 'leaflet' to voice our anger over the treatment of the worker.
The rest is history. Although, your research skills could use some fine-tuning as you somehow assumed the leaflet was only "half-read", and then spun our angered, two-minute phone call to the president of Amatos as "a full-blown interview". Do you write for the Toronto Sun?
It took roughly two minutes to talk to the president, and two minutes to read the leaflet - pretty much equal time. Unfortunately, the 'smooth talking president' was a bit more convincing than the shouting girls handing out leaflets.
Which is why I've mentioned a couple dozen times in this comment thread that those protesting should change their tactic and hand their own phone numbers out if they want to talk more, as opposed to someone who has notoriously lied to a slew of people.
Alas, this whole ordeal has been blown out of proportion some time ago.
I am bit disgusted at how some posters here such as nate and nodnarb are blaming the victim.
I used to work at an informational non-profit organization in downtown Toronto, any many workers (too many unfortunately) get screwed by the bad bosses. It is not unheard for someone to be owed few months wages. It just takes a few "I promise to pay you next week" and bit of (misplaced) trust.
Not as dramatic, but the comments remind me of the, "she got raped because she is a slut" mentality. Disgusting.
Many of the people leaving comments seem quite hostile towards the worker despite the fact that they're not the least bit involved in the situation. Whereas I'm sure that constructive criticism is appreciated, name-calling is not. Moreover, its juvenile. Seriously - grow up.
Second of all, many people seem hung-up on the idea that the worker should have quit when first told that she wasn't going to be paid for the first time. Having been in the same situation, and having heard both sides of this particular story, I'm quite appalled that people are calling the worker 'idiot' and other such juvenile terms. She worked there for SIX YEARS. Even someone like Paul L., who seems to be quite hung up on the distributed flyer, will agree that that information was published on the pamphlet. After six years, one grows a certain loyalty to a company (at least, any one with a conscience does), so when you're told that you're not going to be paid until next month because the company is lacking funds, it really doesn't seem like too big of a deal to be understanding. Unfortunately, her loyalty and compassion towards the owners was neglected, and she ended up getting completely screwed over in the end.
THEY LIED. That's all there is to it.
If you still feel comfortable purchasing goods from such a crooked place, thats your choice. I find it to be unacceptable, and think that many people on this site are trying to justify eating there by lashing out at the worker. Not only is that juvenile, but its also ignorant.
If the worker is reading this, don't worry too much about these comments. Some of the posters, like nodnarb, post all over this site, and all of their comments are hateful and juvenile. I guess this site has become an outlet for people with pent-up aggression.
Tanya on your last line the worst comment that you made about the employer was that they possibly were "slick". OTH, you suggested that the employees quite possibly were psychotic.
Slick vs. psychotic? Doesn't sound like an "equal" value judgement to me.
You didn't say "slick protestors vs. psychotic employer". In fact, if the descriptions of this employer described on this blog are correct, it would much more accurately describe the employer...although the correct word would be "psycopathic". Look it up.
There is a big difference between "reading a leaflet" and engaging in a conversation with the workers. Somehow the workers didn't "rate" a conversation but the owners did.
Further, you decided to buy your pizza from Amato's. Its not like there's a shortage of pizza shops in this town...or maybe, just maybe you could have told the workers what the employer said and give them the opportunity to refute the employer's allegations.
I lay no claim to being objective. You do. So in this journalism class...you get an "F".
Dear Ed, I really hate to repeat myself, but I'll do one one last time despite your constant going on about journalism class and my supposed career goals.
If you read the posting or any of the following comments you will realize that in fact:
1 - We didn't buy amatos. We just decided we wouldn't boycott as we weren't convinced.
2 - slick vs psychotic, as already discussed, was a comparison about how each side was coming across via each others stories. The employees vs the boss, making him appear like a slick talker. The owner vs the employees, making them out to be totally out of control and unjustified. That being his skew, not mine. I have no ground to call them psychotic and wouldn't dream of it. but alas, misreading is where this ridiculous string got started.
Mind the context. Over and out.
I don't see a great deal of difference between not buying at that particular moment and making a decision not to boycott...which essentially means that if you got the munchies, you'd buy there tomorrow and walk right by some minimum wage slaves who've been ripped off.
"Slick vs. psychotic" are the words you used to characterize the situation, out of a) your conversation with the owners and b) your reading of the workers leaflet. Neither the protesters not the owners used these words that I'm aware of, you did.
So I'm just calling you on your "oh so cool and detached" faux neutrality.
This is called getting raked over the coals for something you've written.
Well, seeing as you obviously have no interest in the actual situation. I'll just leave you be to assume based on your personal opinions instead of the facts. Enjoy.
I was down at the Labour day parade at Queen and saw the Amato protest. It was more than four women though, this one had about thirty people handing out leaflets and picketing.
I googled Amato later on and the Amato situation is listed on whole array of non-profit organizations forums and websites, albeit using the same message.
To everyone who disagrees with me:
SCREW OFF, and stop picking on Tanja.
A thesaurus is also a useful tool. After reading these posts, the word juvenile is used like "lol" in a chat room. Suck it up. If you don't like what you see, don't read it. And if you decided to read it, stop bitching.
Oh and for you all working in "non-profit organizations in downtown Toronto": you wouldn't have to exist if workers weren't idiots. See, if the workers knew their rights, they would know they deserve to be paid. On time. And if they don't, they should a) file a suit or b) quit. it is THEIR FAULT if they decide to trust their employer. No one would have to pretend to feel sorry for them or pretend to have worked at non-profit organiztions just to make it look like they are important. Well guess what, you are not in any way involved in this either.
Oh and as a side note. No ELISE, I have never posted anywhere on this site. Except here. And the only reason I did was to knock some sense into everyone who thinks like you.
Quite simply:
I am no longer eating at Amato's.
I have been a customer for at least 8 years. I hope the owner is reading this.
Hey guys.
This story along with the above exchanges sound interesting to say the least.
I write for a student newspaper, and I'm always looking for a great story.
So if any disgruntled Amato employees or Amato employers want to contact me and let me know more about the situation that would be great.
I posted my email above.
Hello all,
I am the legal aid worker at Parkdale Community Legal Services that is representing the Amato worker.
A little update. The latest cheques bounced.
There is a massive rally being held at 5:30 pm Thursday, September 15, 2005 in front of 534 Queen Street West. Various progressive organizations will be present. A simultaneous rally may be held at the St. Clair West Amato.
If you have nay questions, please call me at (416) 531-2411, ext. 255.
Wow, so I'm not the only one!!
I started working at amatos part time in July and the same thing happened to me. I was being paid by cheque and the other employees warned me about the cheques bouncing all the time. It didn't happen to me until the cheque run September 2nd.
My $252.07 cheque bounced almost causing my mortgage to bounce (luckily I saw the bounced cheque in time and transferred funds). When I approached my boss he told me he would have to check with head office before they would issue me any money, even though I brought in my bank statement with the words "NSF Amatos no funds available".
I quit on the spot, because my boss had such a calm attitude and made the whole thing even seem like my fault and he did not once say I'm sorry. I got my money the next day AFTER I THREATENED TO CALL THE LABOUR BOARD and have just collected in cash the last of the money they owed me.
I can tell you that lately I've been being paid in cash (at a lower rate), something that I know is illegal and the latest incident is that since the bounced cheques last pay periond (there were about 4 of us), there are signes all over saying debit machine not working, cash only. I dont know about you but as working as a restarurant manager for the last 7 years (The amato's gig was just quick cash), you make a phone call credit card machines are fixed within hours not weeks.
FOR ALL YOU EMPLOYEES THAT ARE STILL AT AMATO'S BEWARE----GET YOUR MONEY AND QUIT WHILE YOU CAN. ALL OF OUR TIME IS TOO VALUABLE TO WORK FOR NOTHING. NOT TO MENTION ITS ILLEGAL. ANY COMPANY WITH THIS MUCH OF A CASH FLOW PROBLEM WONT BE AROUND FOR LONG.
"Not as dramatic, but the comments remind me of the, "she got raped because she is a slut" mentality. Disgusting.
Posted by: Chris at September 6, 2005 02:46 AM"
Yes, it's JUST like rape. Except not at ALL.
These Amato's workers aren't making me lose any sleep, and I'm not shedding any tears.
If you're STUPID enough to work for free, and MORONIC enough not to ask for your money after COUNTLESS paycheques have bounced - well that's your own goddamned fault.
Perhaps you should try to educate your mind and become informed. It's not my fault that you pissed away for school years getting drunk and high and skipping class.
Your STUPIDITY is your own fault, no one elses, and no demonstration or protest can make up for your substandard intellect.
At this point, I really don't think adding petty insult to injury is in any way useful, Nate.
If this thread is going to turn to pathetic name calling (from either side of the argument), I'm prepared to just shut it down.
Oh noes, don't shut it down!
Where will all the Amato's worker band together for a better tomorrow?
I believe that justice ZzzzZzzzZzz....
Blah blah blah we're stupid Amato's workers! What went wrong? We are so naive and stupid but that's no reason to take advantage of us!
Waaaaaaa change my diaper! Baby make boom-boom!
Hi Tanja,
I think your suggestion of shutting down after Nate's comments is actually quite a good idea.
I worked for Amato for 6 months. Despite Nate's suggestion that anyone who receives a bounced cheque is somehow an uneducated moron who 'got high during high school', I needed the funds to pay rent while my academic scholarship covered my tuition (that's right nate, i'm on academic scholarship - several in fact. why? cause i've averaged 90s and over since grade 10 - i'm in third year university now). I worked at Amato to pay rent. My cheques bounced. Such is life. They lied, and the employees were victimized as a result of those lies.
I happen to know that the worker who's been organizing the protests was executive assistant to the CEO. She's currently studying to be a chartered accountant. She's quite young, and she's absolutely brilliant. So much in fact, that she doesn't feel it necessary to call people names while hiding behind a computer screen. She's doing something about it. SHe's not letting herself be victimized.
These people are not stupid. They are not uneducated, and they are certainly not idiots. They were simply showed understanding and compassion to a lying group of owners.
By the way, next time you decide to call people idiots, try not to use phrases like 'Perhaps you should try to educate your mind and become informed. It's not my fault that you pissed away for school years getting drunk and high and skipping class'.
I mean really - review the grammar in that paragraph. Its awful!!!
How ironic.
Wow, Meg, you're in university? Holy shit, so I am! I am also in third year!!! WE R TEH SMART! Quick, what is your favourite colour?
My UTORID # is 993616360! What is yours?
This is like, omg so freaky!
Thanks for noticing the irony in my statement from the other day!
Love and rockets,
Nate
After deleting a string of defamatory and racist postings from Nate, this comment thread has been closed.
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