Richtree Market restaurant in Toronto’s Eaton Centre closed down in January of this year, putting its 50 unionized employees out of work. When the restaurant reopened in the mall, just meters away from its original location, it didn’t hire back any of its original staff.
The workers and their union, Unite Here local 75, have been holding weekly actions outside of the Eaton Centre to pressure the company to rehire the workers and recognize the union. The company has escalated its attack on restaurant workers by seeking a no board report which could mean a full scale lockout as soon as November 18.
Rankandfile.ca’s Dave Bush attended the rally for Richtree workers on Thursday November 7 and spoke to Lis Pimentel, President of Unite Here local 75 and Nazrul Islam, a Richtree worker for 25 years, about the situation.
[audio:https://www.rankandfile.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/richtree21.mp3|titles=Richtree report]