Several posh Manhattan eateries could be singing the blues today as restaurant workers plan to picket them on “opera night” – one of the year’s busiest.
Disgruntled workers from the Redeye Grill, Shelly’s, Trattoria Dell’Arte and Cafe Fiorello and local lawmakers say the restaurants illegally hijack tips, refuse to pay overtime, and bully any employee who complains.
Cafe Fiorello is across the street from Lincoln Center, where the Metropolitan Opera will celebrate the opening of the 2006-07 season tonight.
Tom Budd, lawyer for the Fireman Hospitality Group, owner of six tony Manhattan restaurants, insists that the state Labor Department has already cleared the restaurants of any wrongdoing.