Religious leaders and worker advocates in the city plan to protest managers at the Builders Center of Chicago next week.

They say the company owes wages to two workers there for painting, maintenance and janitorial work they performed between October and May. According to a statement from Arise Chicago, the center owes Eladio Perez $2,640 and Roberto Jacinto $5,156.

Organizers say the workers reached the company by phone on July 6, and that they sent a follow-up demand for payment by fax a week later. After a month of unreturned phone calls, they say, the workers joined forces with religious leaders and Arise staff to meet with a general partner of the company and his accountant on Aug. 19.

According to staff at Arise, General Partner Anatoly Zarkhin agreed that it was responsible for the payments but refused to draft a plan to compensate the workers.

Perez and Jacinto now demand that the company pay half of their wages by Sept. 15 and the remainder within a month later.

"We're asking to get paid so that we can help our families," Perez said in a statement. "My mother is sick, and she depends on my help."

Arise Workers Center Director Adam Kader called the situation a "clear-cut case of wage theft."

"It's outrageous that these workers, while standing in those luxurious offices, are being told that the company cannot pay them."

I'll be reaching out to Zarkhin for a response to the allegations, and covering the protest next week. It's at 11 a.m. Wednesday outside the Builders Center, 2101 W. Irving Park Road.