Passing motorists waved and honked in support of a Buddhist journalist as he took to the streets of dreamy Callaway and Great Mills to get back his dues from Kenneth C. Rossignol, publisher of ST. MARY’S TODAY.

“I am not going to let American business fall to Pakistani standards,” said journalist Ahmar Mustikhan. “This country has given me the right to live my life in freedoms and I owe it to the Star-Spangled Banner to fight the right fight.”

Carrying his “Be Nice Pay Wage” handmade poster, Mustikhan raised slogans “Rossingol, Rossignol, Pay My Dues, Pay My Dues” as he braved chilly winds to walk from Callaway Complex to the office of Senator Roy Dyson, to hand him a memorandum.

Mustikhan, who was a reporter for ST. MARY’S TODAY for more than 13 months, was left aghast when two bad paychecks from Rossignol left his bank checking account run into the red. The fee that accrued because of the bad check, gas reimbursement from Oct. 1 2006 to Jan. 17, 2007 and his last week’s salary remain unpaid, though Maryland law requires this to be settled within two weeks of any worker’s termination.

A source very close to Sen. Dyson said the senator strongly disproves of Mr. Rossignol’s act and told the scribe 10 people before Mustikhan had faced the same predicament working for Mr. Rossignol.

Dick Myers, a senior aide to Sen. Barbara Miskluski and another local journalist, Bryan Jaffe, took Mr. Rossignol to court for unpaid dues. The pizza parlor operator-turned-publisher paid the two journalists their dues less than a day before the court hearings, settling out-of-court. 

Mustikhan plans to walk from Callaway to the Circuit Court in Leonardtown in his bid to bring Mr. Rossignol to justice. He is also urging legislators to pass appropriate legislation to stop this inhuman practice by unscrupulous employers.

In his missive to Sen. Dyson, Mustikhan said, “The reason I have come to your office to deliver this missive is that Mr. Rossignol poses as a buddy of yours and proudly calls himself your unofficial campaign manager. I do hope both of these claims are not true.”

He requested Dyson to withhold his weekly column “Annapolis Report” that one of his staffers ghostwrites for ST. MARY’S TODAY until Mr. Rossignol shows respects for the labor laws of the state of Maryland.

Other than Dyson, House majority leader Rep. Steny Hoyer staffers contribute a weekly column “Washington Report” and local commissioner Larry Jarboe (R. Golden Beach) also contributes “Leonardtown Report” for Mr. Rossignol’s tabloid.

The Buddhist journalist also plans a march on Annapolis.