How Jacobin and the Democratic Socialists of America aided the Teamsters’ betrayal of the Hunts Point market strike
Last weekend, the Teamsters union forced through a sell-out contract to end a six-day strike by 1,400 workers at the Hunts Point produce market in the Bronx in New York City. Workers who struck for a modest $1 per hour raise per year, were left with an average annual wage increase of 62 cents more for new hires and 40 cents for veteran workers over the next three years. Most of the wage increase, moreover, is offset by reductions in their health care benefits.
The deal was passed in a snap ratification vote engineered by the Teamsters who told workers to vote on a three-year deal that they did not see or have a chance to discuss. Workers were not even allowed to keep the single-page “highlights” distributed by Teamsters officials. The Teamsters union, which has over $419 million in assets according to its 2019 Labor Department filing, did not pay a dime in strik
Amir Khafagy for Documented
Unionized workers at the Hunts Point Produce Market left the job in a dispute over wages and health care. On Saturday, they finally won a 70-cent-per-hour raise.
Amongst the industrial landscape of Hunts Point, warehouse worker Cheick Oumar A. Barry took refuge from the crippling winter air as he huddled over the amber flames of a campfire. Exhausted and cold, his spirit was not depleted. He said he was willing to endure the bitter cold another week.
Pictured above: outside the Hunts Point produce market.
This article was originally published by Documented, a nonprofit news organization that covers New York’s immigrants and the policies that affect their lives. Follow them on Facebook and Twitter, or sign up for their newsletter.
A Strike That Essential Workers at Hunts Point Produce Market Won
Unionized workers at the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market began a strike after management refused to raise their wages. On Saturday, they announced they had won an 70 cent-per-hour raise
Amongst the industrial landscape of Hunts Point, warehouse worker Cheick Oumar A. Barry took refuge from the crippling winter air as he huddled over the amber flames of a campfire. Exhausted and cold, his spirit was not depleted. He said he was willing to endure the bitter cold another week.
“This is nothing. Even if it’s raining or snowing, we will be here until we win.”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) spent the evening of Inauguration Day just outside her congressional district supporting a Teamsters union strike in the Bronx.