They are a fixture across New York City, giving shoppers a welcoming smile and a helping hand as they assist cashiers in packing everything from apples to zucchinis. In many supermarkets, managers treat these baggers as volunteers, not paying them wages and making them rely on tips. But now, in a new front in the wage-and-hour wars, many baggers are speaking up, insisting that they are employees and should be paid like other supermarket workers. Call it the baggers? rebellion ? a rebellion that involves lawsuits, street protests and a boycott.
See "Long Treated as Volunteers, Tips-Only Supermarket Baggers Take Up Fight for Hourly Wage", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, February 11, 2007