DAILY LOBO new mexico
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wednesday February 20, 2013
The Independent Student Voice of UNM since 1895
Protest over lack of wage increase
Malt shop not paying hike in minimum wage by Ardee Napolitano news@dailylobo.com
A Nob Hill restaurant’s decision to not adhere to the city’s recent minimum wage increase elicited outrage from Albuquerque activists Tuesday morning. About 75 people gathered in front of Route 66 Malt Shop to protest the restaurant owners, who continue to pay their employees the old minimum wage. New Mexico Alliance for Retired Americans field consultant Terry Schleder said the owners are breaking the law by not providing pay increases to their employees. “He’s making his workers work for low wages because he feels like he’s above the law,” he said. “He does not want to comply with the minimum wage. But we know that working for poverty wages is not the way to a healthy state or a healthy city.” The minimum wage increase took effect in Albuquerque in January after the ballot measure passed with 66 percent of the vote in November. The increase changed the citywide minimum wage from $7.50 per hour to $8.50 per hour. Schleder said the restaurant’s owners only want to help themselves, and that their actions will hurt Albuquerque’s economy. “When we all make less, we all do worse,” he said. “This is
Juan Labreche / Daily Lobo Route 66 Malt Shop co-owner Eric Szeman quotes Martin Luther King Jr. to defend his decision not to comply with the city’s minimum wage increase while Eve Sandoval stands in protest to his actions. Dozens protested outside the Nob Hill malt shop Tuesday, saying the restaurant’s decision not to adhere with the increase is illegal. a downward spiral. This guy is leading the race to the bottom. Devoting your efforts to the 1 percent does not help the 99 percent. That’s exactly what the owner is doing. He’s standing on the backs of his workers for the 1 percent.” Ninfa Lara, a member of Organizers in the Land of Enchantment, said the restaurant should respect the wage increase. She said she called on Albuquerque mayor Richard Berry to intervene in the issue.
“They cook the food and they clean after us, and they deserve a better pay,” she said. “We also want the mayor to support the law and to push the law. We just want the law to be respected.” KRQE reported Monday that the restaurant co-owner Eric Szeman “admittedly didn’t raise pay for his employees” even after the increase took effect. KRQE’s report stated that “an unhappy worker blasted his boss on TV for it.” Andrew Szeman, Eric Szeman’s son who volunteers at the restau-
rant, said the controversy started with Kevin O’Leary, the “unhappy worker” who complained to KRQE, that the restaurant did not pay him the new minimum wage. Andrew said O’Leary, who was part of the wait staff, got mad after the owners decided to cut his hours because he neglected to serve four tables one day in January and those customers gave the restaurant a bad review online. Although the restaurant has not yet fired O’Leary, Andrew said his employment status is “in
limbo.” Andrew said that because the wait staff knew that the restaurant would be bankrupt if it increased salaries, they signed a contract in which they agreed to work for the old minimum wage. According to a statement issued by the restaurant owners, Szeman said “it was (the employees) who proposed that they continue to work at the existing wage. It was not our idea, it was theirs.” Andrew said the wait-staff
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When in Rome: Visitors enjoy nudism exhibit in the buff by George Jahn
The Associated Press VIENNA — These museum goers didn’t just leave their coats at the coat check. They handed over their shirts, trousers and underwear. Everything, in fact, except their shoes and socks. After all, the stone floor can get chilly when you’re touring an art exhibit in the nude, which was what more than 60 art lovers did in a special after-hours showing at Vienna’s prestigious Leopold Museum. For many, the tour of “Nude Men from 1800 to Today” — an exhibit of 300 paintings, photographs, drawings and sculptures focused on the bare male — was a goose-bump-raising instance of life imitating art. Ronald Zak / AP photo “I can’t say I’m sweating,” said ofNaked museum visitors look at exhibits of the show “Nude Men from 1800 to Today” during a fice worker Herbert Korvas as he special opening to friends of nudism at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, Austria on Monday. stood waiting in the atrium with other young men, wearing only socks,
Inside the
Daily Lobo volume 117
issue 105
Malt Meltdown
Jumping
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sneakers and a smile. Despite the cold, he said he was drawn to the idea of naked museum viewing “because it was something different.” But after a while it really wasn’t — nude quickly became the new normal as the visitors quickly gathered around a — dressed — exhibition guide and moved slowly from one art work to the next, listening intently to their history. And they weren’t the first visitors to get naked either, despite the hoopla around the event that drew dozens of reporters and camera teams from Austria and elsewhere. A man had already stripped at the exhibition in November, calmly sauntering through the exhibition and dressing again only after a security guard asked him to do so. That act made news — and sparked demand for Monday’s all-nude showing, said museum spokesman Klaus Pokorny.
“We got requests from all over the world from people who were inspired by the exhibition ... who asked us, ‘Can we visit the exhibition naked?’” he said. On Monday, interest was definitely skewed along gender lines. Irina Wolf smiled as she looked around at the mostly male crowd lining up for tickets. “I’m at a big advantage here,” she said. “Only men around.” While Wolf said she is not someone who regularly strips in public places, the 40-something computer engineer and occasional theater critic, said “I want to see how I relate to such a group.” For others, Monday’s event fulfilled a long-cherished wish. Florian Kahlenberg from Munich said he found it “interesting to stroll through a museum naked,” adding. “I’ve always wanted to do that.”
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