Workers in Port Chester, NY Win $47,000 in Back Wages

Workers protest outside the courtroom during the first court hearing for the case.

In a big win for Don Bosco Workers, a community-organizing group led by Latino low-income workers, and our joint “No Pay No Way” campaign, five Port Chester, NY workers will recover $47,000 in a wage theft case against their employer, Alisa's Food and More.

"This is a great victory for the workers involved and the Don Bosco Workers organization.  Don Bosco Workers and CWA Local 1103 fight hard for all workers, including those who are at the greatest risk for wage theft,” said CWA Local 1103 President Kevin Sheil. “The result of the case is validation that we were right in identifying wage theft as a huge problem in our community, and now we need to expand upon these efforts to include other communities."

At a private session in the Port Chester Courts last week, Alisa Parto of Alisa's Food and More entered a guilty plea for wage violations against the five workers represented by Don Bosco Workers wage theft recovery unit. The Judge ruled the employer must repay the five workers back wages and overtime with the first payment due in March. Parto will be sentenced to three years of probation and must pay $11,000 in restitution by March and pay $1,000 per month afterward until her probation is complete.

New York Labor Law requires employers to pay employees no later than seven days after the week when wages were earned.

Over a year ago, CWA Local 1103 began a partnership with Don Bosco Worker’s in Port Chester, on the "No Pay No Way" to make Port Chester the first "wage theft free zone" in the country. Dozens of Port Chester businesses have taken the "No Pay No Way" pledge promising to pay their workers the wages they have earned.

CWA Local 1103 members speak to local businesses about the "No Pay No Way" campaign.