Tavern staff hold out hope for jobs

 

Excerpt from the Wall Street Journal:

Former busboy Youcef Heraz worked at Tavern on the Green for nine years. Now his family sends him money from Algeria so he can make ends meet.

For six months, the restaurant's 400 former employees - and their wages and pensions, among other issues - were the subject of negotiations between their union and the restaurateur who won the license to operate Tavern. Last week, those talks broke down, casting into doubt not only the Central Park institution's future as a restaurant but also an employer.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has said the city will solicit new proposals for a restaurant in coming months, using the space as a visitor center in the interim. Many of Tavern's former employees wonder whether that future includes them.

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