A general partner at the Builders Center of Chicago has agreed to pay two workers $7,700 in wages they claimed were owed to them, according to the labor organization Arise Chicago.

The workers, Eladio Perez and Roberto Jacinto, planned to demonstrate outside the center with advocates tomorrow, but organizers at Arise have canceled the protest.

In a statement released yesterday afternoon, they said Anatoly Zarkhin promised to pay the workers for painting, maintenance and janitorial work they performed between October and May. He paid his first installment to them on Friday, after I mentioned the situation on The Picket Line.

I called Zarkhin for comment and left a voice message about 20 minutes ago. I will post an update if he responds.

Adam Kader, director of the Worker Center at Arise, told me he has not spoken with Zarkhin directly, but that he told the workers to "tell your people to stop calling me." Kader said it was a combination of pressure from the media and the threat of a protest that led Zarkhin to pay up.

"I imagine that because we had interest from the press, that's what got him to do it," Kader said.