MIDTOWN — More than three-dozen waiters walked out of Sparks Steak House last week and have been protesting outside the restaurant since, demanding affordable health insurance and respect from management.
The strikers — including 34 waiters and two bartenders — have been whooping and blowing horns outside the upscale eatery at 310 E. 46th St. all day and into the night, trying to scare away customers during the restaurant’s busy holiday season.
“A lot of things led up to this,” said Amir Jakupi, a waiter at Sparks for more than three years. “The kitchen staff and management verbally abuse us, calling us different names in different languages.
"We’re professionals with families and it’s embarrassing to us. We’re out here all day for self-respect.”
Sparks Steak House — which is known as the spot where the former head of the Gambino mob family Paul Castellano was gunned down in 1985 — is a white tablecloth restaurant where the sirloin steak goes for $50.
The workers currently make $5 per hour plus tips. They originally demanded a wage increase to $9 per hour, but then decided just to ask their employer to pay the full cost of their health insurance, according to Kris Fuller, a waiter at the restaurant for nine years.
The workers currently pay for a third of the cost of their health insurance but declined to say how much that was.
The waiters, who are part of the Local 342 United Food and Commercial Workers union, have been in negotiations with management for a year and one-half. But when the owners said earlier this month that the discussion would be delayed until after the holidays, the waiters decided to walk out, Fuller said.
“We’re asking for peanuts, but they still won’t come to the table with us,” Fuller said. “We’re going to stay here for as long as it takes.”
Sparks representatives declined to comment.
The restaurant replaced its wait staff last week and business appeared to be running normally, but several waiters said they've noticed fewer customers since the strike.
Diners have described their experience of eating at Sparks during the strike on Yelp.
"After being bombarded with the protesters' chants of 'Don't go in!' and being screamed at, we went in," said Erwin B. on Yelp. "Afterwards, everything went as smooth as can possibly be. You can tell that they were understaffed and workers were out of their element... There were a few mix ups here and there, but nothing that would make us want to leave."
The protesters — who have picketed outside the restaurant from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day since Dec. 10 — have also caught the attention of nearby residents, some of whom said the protest was disruptive.
“The noise reverberates through my apartment,” said Kathy Thompson, who lives on the same block as Sparks. “It’s absolutely mob rule.”
Some residents were sympathetic to the cause.
"It's American life and it's their right to strike," said Eliot Clauss, who's lived on the block for eight years.
"I wouldn't want to eat there. I hope they can sit down and negotiate something soon."
