Slave Labor Exposed in New York Nail Salons

The New York Times recently exposed illegal activity occurring in New York involving nail salons where employees work both the day and night shift. One women works all day for little pay and then starts her night shift where she sleeps until being awaken to do more nails. The undercover Times investigator found the majority of these places were owned by Korean employers who exploit undocumented immigrants that cannot find work. At the bottom of the scale are Hispanics who earn the least. Above them are Chinese immigrants and the top are young / attractive Koreans that earn the most. The owners claim they are giving opportunity to people that would not be able to find work otherwise. The reality is this 8.5 billion dollar business is highly exploitative and discriminating in some areas where reporter Sarah Maslin Nir found one worker actually having working papers but was afraid to present them to her employer because she is terrified. These bosses often won't hire legal applicants because they want workers that are too desperate to speak up.

To be fair, my niece who is half Italian/half German works at a nail salon in New Jersey and she seems to do quite well so this is clearly not a problem everywhere. However, where it does thrive, it is merciless as these establishments are rarely investigated no matter how appalling the circumstances.