The deliverymen's claims have all been alleged. None of the claims have been proven as true as of now. Many protestors are protesting based on unsubstantiated claims and based on one side of the story. There are two sides to every issue. There is no substantial evidence to prove that the workers are making truthful and valid claims. Many of the headlines in the newspapers states “alleged claims of abuse." The mere accusation that Saigon Grill is mistreating their workers causes the public, who may not truly understand what is going on to protest. When people hear that a restaurant is mistreating their workers they spring into action to protest without discretion. They may not have knowledge of any of the issues, but they persist on protesting just because it seems like the right thing to do and emotionally fulfilling. Socially I feel that there are people in this country that believe they know everything even though they do not. However they feel compelled to let their emotions speak before their rational mind. There a lot of people protesting who have no idea what they are protesting against. Do they really know what is going on? I find it idiotic especially nowadays that people protest when they only have one side of the story. I urge the public especially the protestors who are not directly involved in with what is going on to be patient and let the truth come out before irrationally protesting. The issue with Saigon Grill is a classic case of he said she said. It is hard to believe both sides even if one is telling the truth and the other is not. I can be accused of being biased because I am defending the unpopular side. I just hope we can all be patient and vigilant and wait for all the information to come out. If the truth comes out that Saigon Grill has not been mistreating their workers, the protestors would have hurt an innocent group of people and have made false accusations against a legitimate restaurant. Wouldnt they be guilty of extorting money by using the public sympathy? If the truth comes out that they did indeed mistreat their workers than perhaps justice will be served. In reference to some of the students that maybe protesting, protesting for the sake of protesting and immersing oneself in a situation without all the information is wrong and unjust to the other side and causes disorder and misinformation. Freedom of speech is an important right, however using it without discretion and without consideration will not help in solving the problem.

Posted by: Hiro at March 22, 2007 1:23 PM

You certainly make valid points, hiro. I have no idea how much money these guys make, but I usually tip $5 for a normal sized delivery in normal weather. I imagine these guys can do at least 4-5 deliveries per hour or more, and if everyone tips like me, that's at least $20-25/hr in tips alone, lots more than you'd make at Starbucks or McDonalds, although I admit the peak work day is probably a bit shorter. I'm assuming the restaurant doesn't take the tips, as I think that's illegal. In general, I don't see how conditions can be all that bad.

As for robberies, if I ran a delivery business, I would make it credit-card only to limit the cash that my employees have to carry, making them less likely targets.

Oh, and I hope this gets resolved soon, I can't live without my (fast!) Saigon delivery!

Posted by: IJ at March 22, 2007 4:40 PM

I have to agree with Hiro and IJ. Some if not all of the accusations are probably gross exaggeration of the truth. I mean if one of the delivery workers worked there for 10 years and the conditions were that bad, wouldn't he have complained sooner? What's with the delay? I don't know, this all seems a little fabricated. They make it look like they were treated as slaves, but I pass by Saigon Grill all the time and they all seem to be fine. I mean i guess thats just my perspective. It just feels fishy.

Posted by: Keri at March 23, 2007 12:56 AM

personally, i always had a bad feeling about this place. i usually eat at the one on university, and though the food has never been disapointing (and never really all that special either) ive never been ticked by this restaraunt. now i know that my spidey sense was tingling for a reason. this plays blows... i hope they go under.

Posted by: ian at March 23, 2007 12:37 PM

Hiro and Keri are right, it does feels fishy. one side story claims "owners pay delivery workers as little as $1.60 an hour. "ridiculous fines" for sick days, slamming a door, etc., don't get breaks for meals. Why would delivery workers accept a job offer $1.6 an hour and also have to pay fines at the first place? no breaks for meals? give me a break!!!, delivery workers are base on TIPS. they can take breaks as long as they want, just go home with the empty hands. i think these people just want to takes shortcut to get rich... by the traditional American way, SUE! remember that $2.9 million coffee from McDonalds?

Posted by: MikeA at April 5, 2007 9:43 PM

you ask why would they take the abuse if it was so bad? simple answer- some of us don't have a choice. its do or die.

Posted by: dak at April 11, 2007 12:24 PM

It takes tremendous guts for workers to stand up for their rights and to take a public stand. It would "idiotic" [see earlier poster] to think that all of these workers from two different Saigon Grill locations would come up with exactly the same story of despicable abuse. To what end? To get fired? To be forced to launch a long, drawn out battle, taking up their time and energy? To risk being blacklisted by employers who might recognize them on the picketline or in the media?

Anybody who has ever had to work a job for someone else would know that it would take pretty bad working conditions for so many workers to unite this way and to commit to picketing almost EVERY DAY for weeks on end, with no guarantee of a favorable resolution. These workers deserve to be commended and supported for standing up for themselves. Thanks to them, maybe bosses who break the law and superexploit workers may be frightened into changing their ways. Only a total management hack would suggest that workers just got together and just made all of this up. Workers do not have any reasonable motive to concoct such lies against management from scratch (nor is it credible that such a large group of workers form two locations could reach out to each other and come up with this kind of conspiracy). Anybody can see, however, how management, in contrast, has every reason to break the law and to greedily superexploit their workers while lying about it.
Fortunately (no thanks to some of the posters on this page) reasonalbe, fair-minded Saigon Grill customers are supporting the workers -- and are steering clear of this sweatshop until the workers are rehired and conditions are raised to meet at least the bare, minimal, legal standared. That bare, minimal legal standard is all they are demanding. What could possibly be wrong with that? The slanders by management and some of these posters about the workers are truly sickening.

Posted by: jerry at April 17, 2007 10:02 PM

thank you jerry for being voice of reason. i know the workers aren't lying cuz my dad used to do delivery. WAKE UP PEOPLE. obviously ya'll too privileged to know ANYTHING abt the lives of those who serve you.

plus according to the new york times, it's not just saigon grill workers who are complaining, workers at ollies and other places say the same thing abt not making minimum wage.

check out the blog abt the boycott, http://boycottsaigongrill.blogst.com it'

Posted by: rrr at April 19, 2007 11:30 PM

You're right, rrr. Thank for waking up people so they will be able to think more clearly abt those delivery guys. Hey, what kind of delivery ur dad used to do? If food delivery, have you ever asked him how much he made a day to support you?

Posted by: khasrey at May 5, 2007 2:43 PM

"Hiro and Keri" sound like shills for the owners (if not Mr. and Mrs. Nget themselves) - Nice try.
These employees are being fleeced by a con man that cries crocodile tears, talking about his sad past in Cambodia but doesn't think twice about jacking people in a similar situation out of their salary, and no, the tips aren’t getting them by.- that’s more b.s aimed at what Mr. Nget assumes are suckers (his” loyal customers”).
I guess the reason these people came here from China was to stand out on the street protesting, because they know that’s a great way to get easy money right? Wake up!

Posted by: Cam at June 8, 2007 12:03 AM

ive seen hiro's comment on the nyu news article covering the boycott, and its pretty much verbatim. so i would venture to say that this is just propaganda to counter the truth.

aside from that though, i understand about getting both sides of the issue, but why do you put so much doubt on the worker's stories? i echo previous posters when i say that people don't picket without a good reason.

and this isn't just about saigon grill, because its an industry-wide problem. "freedom of labor" is a myth in this context.

and on a principled note, why would you ever cross a picketline?

Posted by: lok at June 11, 2007 4:09 PM