Queens Politician Fought for Mistreated Salon Workers Until Their Bosses Gave Him Cash
LatestLast summer, a Queens assemblyman helped prepare a bill to fight the terrible working conditions in New York City’s nail salons, then he suddenly changed his mind. What happened? Money, is one guess. Seems like money happened.
In the wake of the New York Times reporting on the mistreatment of nail salon workers in May, a Flushing, Queens assemblyman named Ron Kim worked with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on a bill to protect salon workers from wage fraud and exposure to poisonous chemicals. Now, just months later, Kim has flip-flopped.
Over the summer, Sarah Maslin Nir wrote a scathing investigative piece about nail technicians in the Big Apple who are often immigrants, know little English, have few resources and fewer advocates to fight for their rights. As a result, nail salon owners are able to keep their staff in a cycle of work with little to no pay, little to no rest in crowded living quarters, and little to no chance of upward mobility or escape. The New York Times article went viral; many women stopped getting their nails done, or went looking for salons with fair and equitable labor practices.
In response, salon owners protested outside of the paper’s office in Times Square. To date, they have funneled nearly $100,000 to Kim through fundraisers and individual donations.