How an NYC Massage Parlor Wound Up in the NLRB’s Crosshairs
Liangtse KG Wellness One LLC operates more than 500 massage parlors around the world, with outlets in cities ranging from Beijing to Toronto.
But it’s the parlor in Midtown Manhattan that’s getting a lot of attention. After an investigation that lasted more than six months, the National Labor Relations Board has accused the parlor of restricting the rights of workers to negotiate with their employer.
The company, which has denied the allegations in a statement to the NLRB, now faces a hearing next month.
The workers’ complaints surfaced two weeks ago, when a dozen workers protested outside the parlor at 150 East 55th St. They were there to support two former employees — May Tian, 48, and Wendy Feng, 47 — who say they were fired because their boss sought to retaliate against them after they fought to raise their pay.
“DJ Liu, shame on you!” the group shouted that sunny afternoon, waving brightly colored signs in English and Chinese. They were referring to Liu Xiaozhe, who is the owner of the New York branch.
Beyond this particular complaint, the dispute sheds light on the controversial practices at massage parlors around the city.
“We heard about so many injustices in this industry,” Tian said in Chinese. “I hope our experience will make more employees rise to the occasion.”
Tian and Feng started to work at Liangtse Wellness in early 2021 as the city was still emerging from the pandemic. At first, they alleged, they were not paid a base salary, and their income depended on how many customers they served in a day.
Even though the parlor charged rates as high as $158 an hour, Tian and Feng said they often received a fraction of that, as low as $25 per customer an hour.
During slow periods, Tian said in an interview, “I was only making $50 a day.”
From 2021 through September 2022, both women complained to Liu and their manager, Kelly Zhu, about their pay, hours and working conditions.
Tian and Feng said that management finally agreed to pay them $120 a day, excluding tips, regardless of the number of guests served.
Yet, they soon concluded they were being singled out, massaging six to seven clients every day on average, which was more than their fellow employees did.
Some days, Tian said, she needed “to be in the store for 10 hours. My shoulders were injured from the long hours.”
The NLRB found that Zhu, the manager, prohibited employees from talking with each other about their terms and threatened them with termination if they complained to the owner or participated in collective bargaining, which would be a violation of the National Labor Relations Act.
Last November, after again voicing concerns about their workload, Tian and Feng were dismissed.
“I felt angry,” Tian said. “How can they treat us so unfairly? We did nothing wrong!”
“I felt so suffocated,” Feng added in Chinese. “For months I had to rely on sleeping pills.”
The two women approached the Flushing Workers Center, an organization founded by immigrants to fight for better working conditions. The center took their complaints to the NLRB.
Zishun Ning, an executive secretary at the center, said that it is common for employees in one-on-one occupations like massage work to suffer from wage theft and other violations.
“Many of these workers are migrants,” Ning said in Chinese. “They are afraid to resist for fear that it will be difficult for them to find another job if they lose theirs.”
The NLRB wants Liu to apologize to Tian and Feng, compensate them for their losses, and ensure current employees are aware of the case and their rights in the workplace.
Liu’s attorneys, Thomas Kung and Richard Stern, responded with a letter to the NLRB on Sept. 1, stating that “Liangtse denies each and every allegation contained in the Complaint.”
Kung and Stern declined to comment further on the case.
Tian’s and Feng’s termination, the company said, “was based upon numerous customer complaints as well as their respective repeated violations of Liangtse’s policies concerning Gratuities, Tip Reporting and Standards of Conduct.”
Yet, Tian and Feng said that they didn’t know how much the guests tipped, since those were often handled by an employee at the front desk.
“It’s nonsense,” Tian said in Chinese. “How am I violating the tipping policy in this situation?”
Both Tian and Feng have found new jobs, but they are looking forward to the hearing. “I believe the law will do us justice,” said Tian.
