"It’s not good enough just to clap for them"
January 21, 2021 12:35 PM   Subscribe

Workers at Hunts Point Market, a Bronx-based food hub that supplies 60% of the produce in New York City, are on day five of their first strike in 35 years.

The produce workers, members of Teamsters Union 202, are striking for a $1/hr raise and additional healthcare benefits. Negotiations broke down this weekend when management countered with a mere $0.32/hr offer.

Five picketers were arrested by NYPD Monday night. They have since been released and returned directly to the picket line.

Last night Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez visited the Hunts Point Market in support of the strikers.

Follow the Hunts Point Strike on Twitter.
posted by rabbitbookworm (12 comments total) 35 users marked this as a favorite
 
The quote in the title of this post is from Teamsters Local 202 president Danny Kane. This is my second ever FPP in my ten years as a member of Metafilter!
posted by rabbitbookworm at 12:40 PM on January 21, 2021 [29 favorites]


This bit of solidarity from a locomotive driver is fantastic.
posted by minervous at 12:43 PM on January 21, 2021 [11 favorites]


Great post!
posted by adrianhon at 1:01 PM on January 21, 2021


Anyone know if there's a strike fund we can support?
posted by evidenceofabsence at 1:30 PM on January 21, 2021 [2 favorites]


NYC DSA is accepting strike funds.
posted by rabbitbookworm at 1:37 PM on January 21, 2021 [5 favorites]


I've been following this the past few days - great post! I'm glad the media attention is picking up a bit too.
I was wondering how best to support the strike myself and ended up donating via cash app through the link rabbitbookworm posted. I've also heard that food deliveries (pizza! etc) to the strike site have been appreciated.
posted by bahama mama at 3:40 PM on January 21, 2021


I'm glad to know about this.

It floors me that so many people so often overlook the enormous risk food workers are taking every day to make sure we can all eat. What, indeed, would we do if all these workers were suddenly not there, unloading trucks and stocking shelves and harvesting crops?

I make a point of saying "thank you for your hard work" to every grocery store person I see on my rare-as-I-can-manage grocery runs. I wrote to my legislators supporting hazard pay for essential workers, ESPECIALLY food workers.

I'm having a hard time writing much here because it's so appalling to me that so many people I know don't take the time to imagine what would happen to us if the people we have cavalierly taken to calling "essential" were actually NOT AVAILABLE TO KEEP SOCIETY RUNNING.

I honor everyone of these striking workers. I wish them all better jobs for an employer that actually values their labor.

Thank you so much for posting this, rabbitbookworm - you did a great job with all the links and context, but mostly I'm just glad you shared it!
posted by kristi at 4:10 PM on January 21, 2021 [4 favorites]


thanks for posting this! someone else in a discord i'm in shared a link about instacart laying off unionized employees. that, in combination with this post, really has me thinking about the role of unions. just donated to the strike fund. here's hoping positive change is coming for these workers!
posted by too bad you're not me at 4:37 PM on January 21, 2021 [1 favorite]


Hell yeah! I just got paid, will be donating. A win from this would bring so much hope to other workers in the US. Real change is possible. Solidarity to all workers!
posted by FirstMateKate at 8:29 AM on January 22, 2021 [1 favorite]


Seconding FirstMateKate! I just got paid, sent $ to the strike support fund. UNION STRONG.
posted by minervous at 9:03 AM on January 22, 2021 [1 favorite]


Just an added thought because my father, a poor former small grocery store owner in Brooklyn, used Hunts Point distribution center for fruits and vegetables. Many of the grocery stores, bodegas and shops using Hunts Point are not wealthy and if anything happens to the supply chain, it impacts them greatly along with the neighborhoods they serve. At the end of the day, whatever raise these workers get will ultimately be passed along to the consumers or small grocery owners many of which are in poor to middle class neighborhoods. Whole Foods and FreshDirect have their own distribution centers. I'm not knocking the workers for trying to get a living wage for themselves but I encourage folks to think through the chain of events. In addition, if there is too much trouble with labor, employers start thinking automation. I don't have a solution to solve the problem but just wanted to make sure people thought critically about what happens next.
posted by ichimunki at 4:18 PM on January 22, 2021


Update: this morning the Teamsters 202 union voted nearly unanimously to approve a new union contract with a $0.70 raise, the largest wage increase in the history of their bargaining unit.

ichimunki, I understand your concerns, but withholding labor is one of the most powerful tools available to working people. Management pays workers, and charges consumers, what they can get away with to maximize profit. It’s possible that consumers will bear some part of this wage increase, but it’s also possible that the owners will absorb it, or finance it through the federal aid they’ve received through the pandemic. Regardless, a win like this for essential workers is a win for all working people who deserve fair compensation.
posted by rabbitbookworm at 9:57 AM on January 23, 2021 [5 favorites]


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