A student activist before he left Morocco, Fekkak Mamdouh got involved in the labor movement when he immigrated to the United States in the late 1980s. He was head shop steward at Windows on the World in the World Trade Center when the towers were attacked. In the aftermath, Mamdouh co-founded a service center for immigrants who lost their jobs due to 9/11 but were excluded from mainstream relief efforts. When the owner of Windows opened a new restaurant but refused to hire his old employees, well-publicized protests forced him to change his mind, and the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC) was born with Mamdouh as co-director. ROC employs creative strategies against exploitation in the restaurant industry. Its accomplishments include an increase in the New York State minimum wage for tipped workers and the creation of a worker-owned restaurant named COLORS. In response to calls from other cities, Mamdouh co-founded and co-directs ROC United, which grew quickly to 6000 members in seven cities.