Posted by Marcia Dick May 3, 2011 10:03 AM

By Danielle Dreilinger, Globe correspondent

Latino advocacy group Centro Presente says Diva Bistro in Somerville and Mumbai Chopstix in Boston have shorted workers $10,119, according to a statement from the group.

Centro Presente is slated to hold a meeting about the campaign at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 5 in the Piemonte Room, fifth floor, Boston City Hall.

Two employees have stepped forward and filed complaints with the state attorney general, said organizer Patrick McDermott. However, the two said, additional workers also have been paid under minimum wage. 

One World Cuisine, owned by Amrik Pabla, is a major force on the Boston-area Indian restaurant scene. Along with Diva and Mumbai Chopstix, the group owns Bukhara in Jamaica Plain, Cafe of India in Harvard Square, Kashmir on Newbury Street, Mela in the South End, and Dosa Factory/Shalimar in Central Square, as well as several liquor stores. 

Diva - part lounge, part "Indian bistro" - has been a fixture in Davis Square, known for its sophisticated decor.

"There was some communication" with One World on the matter, McDermott said, "but then the communication went silent."

Sunil Akya, spokesman for One World, said he would check the group's financial records but that "no one is underpaid ... everybody is at least at minimum [wage]."

The Somerville-based Centro Presente has a history of success in these endeavors.

In 2009-2010, the Globe reported that the organization helped five cashiers and cooks at the shuttered Kenmore Square Popeyes win $9,748 in back wages. The state also fined the owner and manager $5,000. 

A campaign against Coverall, a cleaning company that provided services to the Cheesecake Factory and Legal Sea Foods, led to a $40,000 donation from Coverall that covered lost wages, the Globe reported in 2009. 

"The violation of labor rights is a systemic problem affecting all workers in this country and immigrant workers are even more vulnerable to this exploitation," Centro Presente executive director Patricia Montes said in a statement.

The organization regularly holds sessions for Latino immigrant workers to learn about US labor law.