Judge Awards $5 Million to Long-Suffering Chinese Daily News Workers

A federal judge has awarded more than $5 million to the embattled Chinese Daily News workers whose long struggle to try to unionize was met with years of hostility, intimidation and aggressive anti-union tactics.

The court case, filed in 2004, was based specifically on the company's wage and hour law violations, in some cases forcing employees to work 12 hours or more, six days a week, without breaks. A jury awarded damages of $2.5 million last year, which trial Judge Consuelo Marshall last week combined with nearly $2.7 million in penalties and interest.

"This is an important victory for California employees," said Virginia Keeny, one of the workers' lead lawyers. "Both the judge and the jury determined that these employers can't get an edge on their competition on the backs of the workers."

The lawsuit was brought by 200 employees and involved violations dating back to 2000. All of the $5.19 million awarded will go the workers. The judge is to make a separate finding for attorneys' fees.

In 2001, working with The Newspaper Guild-CWA, employees at the newspaper voted to unionize, but the company contested the election and refused to recognize the union. In the years afterwards, the company fired two union leaders and routinely harassed, shamed and threatened supporters. Ruling that a company supervisor had tainted the original election, the National Labor Relations Board overturned the union's victory. In a new election, the company's fear campaign won out.

"This proves once again that the Chinese Daily News was willing to trample on many fundamental rights of its employees in order to keep them from having their union," said TNG President Linda Foley.

Union leader and plaintiff Lynne Wang, a reporter who was fired in 2005, described high daily story quotas for writers and nearly impossible sales quotes for advertising staff. She told the New York Times that she sometimes worked 17 hours a day.

"We are all new immigrants to this country, so we didn't know the law," Wang said, quoted in the Times. "If we complained, they tell us: 'If you don't like it, leave. A lot of people are waiting to take your job.' People were afraid."

She said she's happy about the court victory, but, "I also feel some kind of sadness because it was so hard to get justice."