CHOW (Culinary Hospitality Opportunities for Workers) is ROC-United’s proprietary workforce development program. The goal of the program is to help workers gain skills that will enable them to find quality employment in the restaurant industry. All classes include hard skills, labor rights education, and sections on skills for finding employment. Through this approach, our members enter the industry with the skills needed to find a job, sufficient knowledge on how to go about finding the job, and the necessary information to defend their rights if they are ever challenged down the road.
All CHOW offerings are available in English and Spanish.
All CHOW classes also include Know Your Rights courses, in which students receive education on common workplace issues such as immigration status, sexual harassment, and wage theft. Our curriculum encompasses the history of labor in the United States and rights of workers in both the United States at large and specifically in New York.
We educate our participants on minimum wage for both tipped and non-tipped employees; overtime; child labor laws; paid and unpaid work breaks; employer responsibilities regarding food and uniforms; work scheduling and pay schedules; paid leave; interviews; and the right to organize in the workplace. In addition, we provide information on actions to take should their rights be violated, including how to file complaints with the New York Department of Labor and connecting to appropriate resources.
By disseminating knowledge about labor laws, wage regulations, and legal avenues for redress, we empower immigrant workers with the tools they need to secure fair compensation and safe working conditions.
275 7th Avenue, Suite 1504
New York, NY 10001
