Daily News from New York, New York • 39

.09 METRO NEWS Labor Dept. gets 500G in back pay for 82 workers Visiting our Communities of Belief aim wTif-v iHE NEW YEAR has started auspiciously for 82 Queens workers. After years of being cheated by their employer, the New York State Department of Labor made sure that in 2008 they'll finally get the more than half-mil lion dollars owed to them over a period of six years. It is hard to believe, but the. exact amount the owners of Kam Lun Food Products Inc.

and Kam Lun Bakery, in Elm-hurst will have to fork out is $527,538.29. "On Dec. 20, they already issued the DOL Department of Labor a down payment of $100,000," said Lorelei Boy-Ian, a young lawyer ty If ----r: dlJiL lfl Mete. swdsDb taita who is the depart ALB0R RUIZ ment's director of strategic enforcement. "The next monthly payments will be of $50,000." The department, with its new policy of aggressively enforc ing labor laws and ensuring that workers all workers, regardless of immigration status are treated fairly, is beginning to look like one of those rare government agencies that are really doing their job.

"We are not sitting around waiting for complaints," Boylan said. "For example, on Dec. 23, we read in the Daily News a story that we decided to investigate." Boylan is referring to the case of Rodrigo Vazquez, an immigrant who for 12 years worked 12 or 13 hours in the kitchen of a popular Manhattan restaurant, the Trattoria Pesce Pasta, without ever being paid overtime. Last July, he could no longer take the exploitation and left. Now he estimates that his former employer owes him $45,000.

Even though Vazquez said he was thinking about filing a formal complaint with the department, the agency did not wait. As soon as they read about it, they went to seek him out. "We talked to him," Boylan said. "His case is one of several being investigated by the DOL." When Gov. Spitzer took office, one of his priorities was to increase labor law enforcement, said Labor Commissioner Patricia Smith.

"It is one of my main goals," Smith said, "and that is why we changed the way the department does business, aggressively enforcing labor laws and ensuring all workers are treated fairly." mm he results have been encouraging, Smith said. For Address: 430 North Broadway, Jericho Religious Leader: Rabbi Marvin Richardson (Note: Jericho Jewish Center sends its rabbis to Israel periodically to study. During this article, Richardson was on sabbatical in Israel. In his absence, Temple President Mark Perlson, Ritual Director Samuel Goldberg and Cantor Barry Black have taken over the rabbi's duties.) Religious affiliation: Conservative Services: Evening services are Sunday through Thursday at morning services are Monday through Friday at Saturday and Sunday morning are at 9 and Friday and Saturday evening services are at sundown. Years in existence: 53 Size and character: "We are very di verse.

We have 400 is the changing demographics," said Perlson. "Jericho was once predominantly Jewish, but today more Asian and Indian people are moving into the area. There are so many synagogues in the neighborhood that our biggest challenge is' sharing from a smaller pie." Strangest moment during a service: "One of our bar mitzvah boys' hobby is to rap, so during his bar mitzvah Rabbi Richardson wore a Yankee baseball cap sideways and wore sunglasses and gave his talk to the boy in rap format," said Perlson. "Everyone was hysterical." Proudest moment: "One of our long-standing members' grandson, who lives in Los Angeles, decided he could not have his bar mitzvah without his grandparents Jeanie and David Mason so he one thing, when employers find out the department is doing sweeps and investigating violations, many begin to comply on their own. Ve do sweeps in industries where we have a rea members, which includes families flew 3,000 miles with his family and had his bar mitzvah at the Jericho Jewish Center." Most prized possession: "Our Torahs.

Eggest wish-Cst rteni "Our biggest wish is for more people to join our congregation so it doubles in size," said Perlson. and single people," said Perlson. "We run the gamut from very young families with mem What makes it special "We have a very caring congregation. It is all about community. If any one of our congregants has a problem, everyone gets involved and helps," Perlson said.

"There was a family in Flushing whose house burned down. The rabbi made an appeal. No one knew who this family was, but everyone came forward, donating money, clothes, furniture." son to believe there are violations," Smith said. "We pick our targets." For example, around Thanksgiving, department investigators visited every live poultry shop in the city of New York, she said. And they found many violations.

No amount is as high as in the case of Kam Lun Food Products Inc. and Kam Lun Bakery, but the department has recovered wages in other instances. Two of those are Broadway Pizza and Pasta in the Bronx, which was compelled to pay $11,696 to five workers who did not get minimum wage or overtime, and Bay-side Chrysler Auto Dealers in Brooklyn, which had to pay $54,000 to workers who were getting $11 per hour but no overtime. Smith created a Bureau of Immigrant Workers' Rights to address the abuses against foreign-born workers statewide. They have a van that goes to various places in the city to do outreach.

It parks in front of a church, or the office of a community group or a local politician that immigrants know and trust. It goes to where day laborers gather and tells them what their rights are. Staffed with bilingual personnel, the van distributes information about the laws and what the department can do for immigrant workers. "We go to immigrants if they don't come to us," Smith said. "And we have a very strict policy of not asking about immigration status.

This is not relevant to us, because state labor laws apply to all workers." A rare agency indeed. aruiznydailynews.com Just like you would come dressed to our temple, we dress our Torahs for each holiday," Perlson said. Other services offered: "We have a very active Hebrew high school where kids come after they get bar and bat mitzvah and hang out with the rabbi and the cantor and learn more comprehensive Jewish learning," Perlson said. "We also have a wonderful men's club, sisterhood club and nursery school program." Compiled by Ruth Bashinsky bers who are in nursery school up until people in their 70s and 80s." Most memorable service: "Our first annual concert that took place in October. Our cantor, Barry Black, performed with two world-renowned cantors, Faith Steinsnyder and Rafael Frieder, and the Klezmer Kapelye Band," said Perlson.

Largest service (and turnout): "Kol Nidre, the evening of Yom Kippur our largest service," said Perlson. "We have as many as 1,300 people." Biggest issue: "Our biggest issue.