Justice Will Be Served! Campaign pickets demanding justice for nail salon workers and industry-wide change in nail salons are currently every Sunday at 2pm, and Tuesday at 6pm at the 167 NAIL PLAZA salon (located at 167 Amsterdam Avenue, between 67th & 68th Streets). Some Columbia Asian American Alliance members are going to the picket this Sunday. Let us know if you're interested in attending.

Background of the case from the Justice Will be Served! Campaign:

Here in New York City the nail salon industry is booming from block to block, yet the conditions nail manicurists face are far from pretty. The Justice Will be Served! Nail Salon Network was sparked when a group of workers at the 167 Nail Plaza and 68 Nail Plaza salons were the first women to publicly stand up and expose the industry's shocking and exploitative conditions. Susan Kim, a Korean-American manicurist, was fired by Nail Plaza, Inc. owners Dong Rim Park and Mou Ran Rim for simply requesting break time during the day. Since then, her Chinese and Vietnamese co-workers have since joined her in calling for proper meal and break times, healthier work conditions, overtime pay, and an end to the retaliatory practices.

The example set by the Nail Plaza workers has paved the way for other women from across the tri-state area to stand up for their rights in an industry where women are routinely denied their basic rights and are dangerously exposed to chemical nail products. Many nail salon workers have reported serious skin and eye irritation, respiratory illnesses, and even miscarriage and infertility among the women stemming from prolonged exposure to acrylic powders and chemical-based nail glues and gels in poorly ventilated environments. In many salons, women workers are also prohibited from using the bathroom, taking meal breaks, or even wearing masks or gloves to protect themselves. Like the case of Nail Plaza, employers often use the women's different ethnicity and immigration status to keep them from coming together. Despite these increasing dangers, the industry remains largely unregulated by any government agencies and existing laws are not enforced. In addition, the majority of shops do not abide by basic wage laws, failing to pay overtime and sometimes minimum wage.

Now other women workers are standing together to make an example of Nail Plaza and to demand change in the entire industry. We hope you will join JWBS!'s Nail Salon Workers Network, along with NYS elected officials Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, State Senator Tom Duane, and City Councilmember Gale Brewer, Institute for Women and Work at Cornell University, ILR School; and Bellevue Hospital, on September 16th to kick off our campaign to call for:

1) Justice for the Nail Plaza workers
2) City-funding for a study and treatment program for nail salon workers
3) Government regulations to protect workers in the nail salon industry