Former Employee's Of David's Cafe Demand Their Back Pay

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Roughly two dozen former employees of a closed Miami Beach café protested Tuesday outside their former employers other restaurant location demanding 20 weeks of back pay.

Waving signs and walking the line in front of David's Café at 11th Street and Collins Avenue, the protestors said they went to the U.S. Department of Labor for help but the overburdened agency said they did not have the resources to pursue this case.

"The Department of Labor said they were absolutely correct in every thing they were saying. They are owed money, David's Café did steal their wages," said supporter John Ocampo. "Because of a lack of resources, the Department of Labor cannot help them out."

The former employees say they will now have to hire an attorney in hopes of getting their former employer to make some sort of concession.

"We want our checks," said Simone Leon. "They owe us 19 weeks of checks."

Some of David's Café customers told CBS4 they were going to stop dining there until this matter was resolved.

"I work in a restaurant and I don't think it's fair what is going on here. They need to eat, they need to pay rent, they have families to support," said Inman Acevedo.

"I definitely feel for these people," said Calixto Garcia. "You know, someone needs to step in and negotiate. I think that the owner is a nice person and I think if they go to the table they will be able to resolve this issue quickly."

Last July, David's Café Two closed to due rising rent prices. The 25 former employees say they are owed a total of $74,000.00.

CBS4 reached out to the owner of David's Café, Adrian Gonzalez, but he did not return the calls.