FRANCHISER CLOSES BUSINESS AND LEAVES WORKERS UNPAID – AN INTERVIEW WITH EX WORKER FROM SUGO AMSTERDAM

FRANCHISER CLOSES BUSINESS AND LEAVES WORKERS UNPAID – AN INTERVIEW WITH EX WORKER FROM SUGO AMSTERDAM

A business owner decides to shut down his business, leaving his employees unpaid and ignored. Business as usual? Sadly, this pattern is very familiar to us, Horeca United/Vloerwerk (for example, when a dishonest boss exploited refugees to live a lavish lifestyle and then ran out of money to pay them). The Netherlands has a troubling tendency to encourage business activity without examining how workers are treated. Entrepreneurship gets celebrated in local media and government (the boss in one of our previous case even got an award).

Like their colleagues,  the worker E. was left with unpaid wages. At first, the employer, Johan Matthijs “Joep” Noordhoek , promised to pay. After some more contact, he stopped answering his phone and ignored demands from ex employees. Even worse, E. realized their contract and work hours had never been officially registered with the tax authorities. As a student, E. relies on their work hours for student finance from the government; all of these issues have placed E. in a vulnerable position. But instead of walking away, E. decided to claim what is theirs, and reached out to Horeca United/Vloerwerk for support in their conflict.

The Employer 
What do we know about the employer Joep Noordhoek? We know that he had multiple interactions with the Sugo Pizza franchise business model. In October 2021, Noordhoek opened a sandwich shop called Broodje Fier (Reguliersdwarsstraat 4) which he converted this business into a Sugo Pizza franchise in May 2022. This Sugo Pizza franchise shut its doors in  December 2024. In 2023, Noordhoek opened another Sugo Pizza franchise in de Pijp (Ferdinand Bolstraat 107), choosing the Restaurant/Eat-In franchise model. However, in May 2025, this franchise also shut its doors. What we see is a carousel of failed openings and closures from Noordhoek. These erratic decisions have naturally had negative consequences for J. Noordhoek’s ex employees. 

Compassion for the Entrepreneur
Noordhoek claims to be having financial trouble and that he is bankrupt. At the same time, he refuses to officially declare bankruptcy because it would cause ‘trouble’ for him. In his response to our demand letter for E.’s wages, Noordhoek implied that his employees should show understanding for his financial difficulties. Ironically, he did not seem to show the same compassion to his ex employees. The Sugo franchiser does not take responsibility for the financial damage he has caused his ex employees, and offers no real solution to the mess he has created.

We already know that Noordhoek chose to invest in a new business venture instead of taking care of his existing franchise locations. In July 2024, Noordhoek established a holding company with a partner, which operates Eetlokaal Buurt https://www.debuik.nl/amsterdam/restaurant/buurt-amsterdam in Amsterdam. This business remains running, and he is currently working there.

It is insulting that this employer would expect unpaid, precarious horeca workers to feel empathy for his decision to throw them under the bus as a sacrifice for his new business. Simply because doing the right thing would be inconvenient for him.

This Worker Speaks Up
 Our campaigns organize with the basic principles of direct action, solidarity, and self-emancipation. Interviewing workers about their conflict puts the spotlight on moments of collective power, instead of stories of victimization. We have interviewed E. to hear more about their situation, and why they chose self-organisation to fight back. 

Franchise closure leaves workers unpaid: a conversation with a former Sugo Amsterdam employee

When a business owner shuts down operations and leaves employees unpaid, it’s more than just poor management; it’s a systemic issue. Unfortunately, this scenario is all too familiar to us at Horeca United/Vloerwerk (see also the Glanstastisch case https://www.doorbraak.eu/ik-ben-de-beroerdste-niet-hoe-irshaad-kariman-zijn-luxeleventje-bekostigt-over-de-ruggen-van-gevluchte-arbeiders/). In the Netherlands, entrepreneurship is often celebrated in media and policy circles, yet the treatment of workers is rarely scrutinized. Awards like the LUPI https://www.doorbraak.eu/mkb-den-haag-heeft-spijt-van-prijs-aan-lupi-coffee-baas-hossein-akef/ or coverage of chains like NY Pizza highlight business success stories https://www.doorbraak.eu/poolse-horeca-medewerker-jan-eist-samen-met-horeca-united-zijn-volledige-niet-uitbetaalde-loon-op/, while the human cost often remains overlooked.

The Case of E. and Sugo Amsterdam

E., a student and former employee at Sugo Amsterdam, was left without pay when the franchise abruptly closed. Initially, the owner, Johan Matthijs (Joep) Noordhoek, promised to settle outstanding wages. But after a few exchanges, Joep Noordhoek stopped responding entirely. E. later discovered that their contract and working hours had never been officially registered with the tax authorities; an omission that jeopardized their eligibility for student financial aid.

Rather than accept this injustice, E. chose to take action and reached out to Horeca United/Vloerwerk for support.

Who Is Joep Noordhoek?

Joep Noordhoek has a history of short-lived ventures under the Sugo Pizza franchise. In October 2021, he opened a sandwich shop, Broodje Fier, which he converted into a Sugo Pizza location in May 2022. That business closed in December 2024. In 2023, he launched another Sugo franchise in De Pijp (Ferdinand Bolstraat 107), which also shut down by May 2025.

This pattern of rapid openings and closures has had serious consequences for his employees, who are often left without pay or legal protections.

A One-Sided Appeal for Compassion

Noordhoek claims to be facing financial hardship but has avoided declaring bankruptcy. Declaring bankruptcy benefits employees as it would lead to loanpayments from the UWV. However, Noordhoek refuses to take this path for personal inconvencience. Noordhoek sticks his head in the sand and sabotages backpay. 

In response to a formal demand for E.’s wages, he suggested that we should empathize with his situation. Yet, he has shown little concern for the financial and emotional toll his actions have taken on his workers.

Despite his claims of hardship, Noordhoek co-founded (with Sebastiaan Pieter (Bas) Bröring) a new business, Eetlokaal Buurt (https://www.debuik.nl/amsterdam/restaurant/buurt-amsterdam), in July 2024. ​​​​​​​Eetlokaal Buurt remains operational, and Noordhoek works there.

Expecting compassion from precarious hospitality workers while refusing to take responsibility for their unpaid labor is not just unethical and unlawful: it is insulting.

Workers Fight Back

At Horeca United/Vloerwerk, we believe in direct action, solidarity, and self-empowerment. Rather than portraying workers as passive victims, we highlight their strength and agency. E.’s decision to speak out and organize is a powerful example of collective resistance in the face of exploitation. Please contact us to inform how you can contribute to this campaign. 

<English, Dutch below>

— Can you briefly introduce yourself?

I’m a 22 year-old Italian student who moved to Amsterdam almost 2 years ago.

Beside studying Social and Culture Justice, I try to be engaged and active outside of the class, giving my support for social struggles as much as I can.

— How long did you work for this establishment?

I was employed there from the end of February 2024 till end of February 2025.

— What was the atmosphere like at the job for the time you worked there? How was the relationship between employees and bosses?

I honestly liked the job, I worked there enough time to get very comfortable about my way of handling things and my overall competences. Between me and my coworkers there has always been a nice atmosphere. The boss wasn’t much around the restaurant during the last months, at the time he just opened a new place so he was there most of the time. 

Delayed payments and payslips has always been the main issue with him for all employees. The last months there was no manager, so it got very chaotic and disorganised and shifts were assigned on Sundays for the incoming week. Other that that, everybody treated each other with respectful manners, including the boss.

— How did the communication go with your boss when the restaurant was operating normally? Did it change after the restaurant closed? In what way?

Communicating with the boss was never easy: when asking, for several times, about late pay checks and payslips employees wouldn’t get a response for days. For any other type of communication, for example practical concerns about the restaurants, if things didn’t work, for sickness etc., communication would work much better.

— When did you realize that they were not going to pay you? How did you find out?

At the begging of March he told me he was facing bankruptcy and he was unable to keep the restaurant open, reassuring that he would have paid me “asap”. After then he stopped replying to any text or calls, giving no updates and becoming completely unreachable.

I got in contact with UWV and found out he actually never declared the bankruptcy. 
— Are any of your former coworkers in a similar position?

Yes, 7 other employees are still waiting to be paid just like me.

— How has the insecurity of work and payment affected your life?

As I mentioned before I am an expat student, which means I have a very low income.

I was never notified on time that I would have stopped working there, which left me unemployed for a few months as I had no time to look for another job. Moreover as a working student, I was receiving financial support from DUO, which I lost since my contract was not renewed. I also lost the benefit of free transportation which added up to all my expenses that I couldn’t afford as I didn’t get paid.

This made me feel very anxious and stressed about my situation and deeply overwhelmed as I felt powerless.

— Do you know other people who have been through similar situations? Do you think this is a common situation in horeca?

Other than my employees I don’t know anyone personally. I do know this is not the first case in horeca. After getting familiar with the work that Horeca United does, I realised this is much more common that I thought.

Honestly I didn’t expect this to happen in a country like the Netherlands where workers seem to be strongly covered under the law.

— Why did you choose to start a campaign against your former employer? What motivated you to do this instead of just changing jobs or getting a lawyer?

When I first found myself in this situation, my initial step was to seek help from the UWV. Since they work with formalized bankruptcy cases, and my employer hadn’t officially declared bankruptcy, there was little they could do. They started an investigation to see if it was necessary to force him to declare bankruptcy, but since the boss is not collaborating things have been stuck.

Starting or joining a campaign was not something I had considered at first. I wasn’t familiar with this kind of collective action, and I didn’t know who to turn to. It was only after a few months of trying to handle everything on my own that a friend suggested I contact Horeca United. Being part of a group of people who were ready to stand with me gave me the support I really needed. The union’s approach, based on bottom-up organisation and collective action, aligns much more closely with my values than relying solely on legal procedures.

It also felt deeply unjust to have to pay some lawyer just to try to recover the wages I had already earned.
During this time, I was also searching for another job, and I’m now employed somewhere else. But simply finding a new job never felt like a real solution to what I had been put through.

— How does it feel to team up with other workers and to take the issue into your own hands?

In the past moths, this situation caused me a lot of stress, instability and frustration. 

Finding fellow workers who were willing to listen and help felt very relieving and empowering. I feel that I finally have the space to fight for my problems without having to wait for a whole system to recognise my struggles.

— What would you say to other people facing work and payment insecurity due to the exploitative practices of bosses?

I would tell them that it is totally right and just to fell anger and frustration; that any way you will choose to deal this with, will feel like putting extra work, extra energies and time for something you shouldn’t be experiencing in the first place! 

I would encourage them to look for people really willing to help and to not give up.

— How can the readers of this article support you?

They can join our campaign! Help us pressuring the boss to finally pay!

Answer to the question of why Elena has chosen to organize with HU instead of hiring a lawyer/just changing jobs:

When I first found myself in this situation, my initial step was to seek help from the UWV. Since they work with bankruptcy cases, and my employer hadn’t officially declared bankruptcy, there was little they could do. They started an investigation to see if it was necessary to force him to declare bankruptcy but since the boss is not collaborating things have been stuck.

Starting or joining a campaign was not something I had considered at first. I wasn’t familiar with this kind of collective action, and I didn’t know who to turn to. It was only after a few months of trying to handle everything on my own that a friend suggested I contact Horeca United. Being part of a group of people who were ready to stand with me gave me the support I really needed.

The union’s approach, based on bottom-up organisation and collective action, aligns much more closely with my values than relying solely on legal procedures.

It also felt deeply unjust to have to pay some lawyer just to try to recover the wages I had already earned.

During this time, I was also searching for another job, and I’m now employed somewhere else. But simply finding a new job never felt like a real solution to what I had been put through.

<Dutch>

— Kun je jezelf even kort voorstellen?

Ik ben 22-jaar, ik studeer en kom uit Italië. Bijna twee jaar geleden ben ik naar Amsterdam is verhuisd. Naast mijn studie Social and Cultural Justice ben ik ook betrokken bij sociale strijd buiten de collegebanken.  

— Hoe lang heeft u bij dit restaurant gewerkt?

Ik was in dienst van eind februari 2024 tot eind februari 2025.

— Hoe was de werksfeer tijdens uw dienstverband? Hoe was de relatie tussen werknemers en leidinggevenden?

Ik vond werken daar eerlijk gezegd wel leuk. Ik werkte er lang genoeg om me zeker te voelen in mijn taken en vaardigheden. De sfeer tussen mij en mijn collega’s was altijd goed. De eigenaar was de laatste maanden nauwelijks aanwezig in het restaurant, omdat hij net een nieuwe zaak had geopend en daar meestal was.

Echter, vertraagde betalingen en vertraagde loonstrookjes waren een terugkerend probleem. Dit gold voor alle werknemers. In de laatste maanden was er geen manager meer, waardoor de werkvloer erg chaotisch en ongeorganiseerd werd. Roosters werden pas op zondag voor de komende week gedeeld. Afgezien van deze situaties werd iedereen met respect behandeld, ook door de eigenaar.

— Hoe verliep de communicatie met de eigenaar toen het restaurant nog open was? Veranderde dat nadat het sloot?

Communicatie met de eigenaar was nooit eenvoudig: bij herhaalde vragen over achterstallige betalingen of loonstroken kregen werknemers vaak dagenlang geen reactie. Voor andere zaken, zoals praktische problemen in het restaurant of ziekmeldingen, verliep de communicatie beter.

— Wanneer realiseerde je zich dat je niet uitbetaald zou worden? Hoe kwam je daarachter?

Begin maart vertelde de manager me dat hij op de rand van faillissement stond en het restaurant moest sluiten. Hij verzekerde me dat hij me “zo snel mogelijk” zou betalen. Daarna stopte hij volledig met reageren op berichten of telefoontjes en werd hij onbereikbaar.

Via het UWV ontdekte ik dat hij het faillissement nooit officieel had aangevraagd.

— Zijn er andere oud-collega’s in dezelfde situatie?

Ja, zeven andere werknemers wachten ook nog steeds op hun loon.

— Hoe heeft deze onzekerheid over werk en betaling je leven beïnvloed?

Zoals ik eerder zei, ben ik een internationale student met een laag inkomen.
Ik werd niet op tijd geïnformeerd dat mijn werk zou stoppen, waardoor ik plots werkloos was en geen tijd had om iets anders te vinden. Omdat mijn contract niet werd verlengd, verloor ik ook mijn recht op studiefinanciering van DUO en het gratis OV. Dat kwam bovenop alle andere kosten die ik niet kon betalen omdat ik mijn loon niet kreeg.

Dit alles veroorzaakte veel stress, angst en een gevoel van machteloosheid.

— Ken je anderen die iets soortgelijks hebben meegemaakt? Denkt je dat dit vaker voorkomt in de horeca?

Behalve mijn collega’s ken ik persoonlijk niemand, maar ik weet dat dit niet het eerste geval is in de horeca. Sinds ik kennis heb gemaakt met het werk van Horeca United, realiseer ik me dat dit veel vaker voorkomt dan ik dacht.

Eerlijk gezegd had ik dit niet verwacht in een land als Nederland, waar werknemers goed beschermd lijken te zijn.

— Waarom besloot je een campagne te starten tegen je voormalige werkgever? Wat motiveerde je om dit te doen in plaats van gewoon een andere baan te zoeken of een advocaat in te schakelen?

Mijn eerste stap was om hulp te zoeken bij het UWV. Omdat zij alleen werken met formeel uitgesproken faillissementen, konden ze weinig doen. Ze zijn een onderzoek gestart om te kijken of ze het faillissement konden afdwingen, maar omdat de eigenaar niet meewerkt, ligt alles stil.

Een campagne starten of meedoen was niet iets wat ik meteen overwoog. Ik kende dit soort collectieve actie niet en wist niet bij wie ik terecht kon. Pas na een paar maanden, toen ik alles zelf probeerde op te lossen, raadde een vriend me aan om contact op te nemen met Horeca United. Deel uitmaken van een groep mensen die bereid was om samen met mij op te komen voor onze rechten, gaf me de steun die ik nodig had. De aanpak van dit solidariteitsnetwerk— gebaseerd op bottom-up organisatie en collectieve actie — sluit veel beter aan bij mijn waarden dan alleen juridische stappen.

Het voelde ook oneerlijk om een advocaat te moeten betalen om loon terug te krijgen waar ik al recht op had.
In de tussentijd heb ik een andere baan gevonden, maar gewoon een nieuwe baan zoeken voelde nooit als een echte oplossing voor wat mij is aangedaan.

— Hoe voelt het om samen met andere werknemers actie te ondernemen?

De afgelopen maanden hebben me veel stress, onzekerheid en frustratie bezorgd.
Het was een opluchting en gaf me kracht om collega’s te vinden die wilden luisteren en helpen. Ik voel dat ik eindelijk de ruimte heb om voor mijn rechten op te komen, zonder te hoeven wachten tot het systeem mijn situatie erkent.

— Wat zou u willen zeggen tegen anderen die te maken hebben met onzekerheid over werk en betaling door uitbuitende werkgevers?

Ik zou zeggen dat het volkomen terecht is om boos en gefrustreerd te zijn. Welke manier je ook kiest om hiermee om te gaan, het zal voelen alsof je extra werk en energie moet steken in iets wat je nooit had mogen overkomen.

Ik zou hen aanmoedigen om mensen te zoeken die echt willen helpen, en om niet op te geven.

— Hoe kunnen lezers van dit artikel u steunen?

Ze kunnen zich aansluiten bij onze campagne! Help ons druk uit te oefenen op de eigenaar zodat hij eindelijk betaalt!