Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to look at how over 1,400 essential workers at the largest wholesale produce market in the country won a major victory this weekend after going on strike for nearly week to demand better wages. Before the strike, workers at the Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx, here in New York, tried to negotiate with management for a $1-an-hour raise, after keeping the New York City region’s food supply going through the pandemic. They voted to end their strike Saturday after approving a new contract that includes a $1.85 wage increase over three years. This is a striking worker named Hector.
New York: Hunts Point market workers agree with negotiations
A strike that lasted a whole week at the nation’s largest wholesale produce market ended Saturday, after workers overwhelmingly approved an agreement that includes their largest pay increase in decades and more money for health coverage.
Some 1,400 members of Teamsters Local 202 walked off the job at the Bronx market January 17, upset with how they were being compensated while continuing to keep operations going throughout the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the death of six employees. It was the first strike at the market since 1986.
After the strike, employees at New York City’s Hunts Point Produce Market will receive raises totaling $1.85 per hour over three years, including an increase of 70 cents per hour in the first year. Management will also made additional contributions of 40 cents per hour to employee healthcare.
From Instacart gig jobs to writers, workers aren't being paid for their labor. President Joe Biden and Democrats need to back up their pro-union rhetoric.
January 25, 2021
The employers at the Hunts Point Produce Market have reached an agreement with Teamsters Local 202 on a new three-year contract covering 1,400 workers at the Market. The agreement represents an over 10 percent increase in wages and benefits over the course of the contract, with an average 3.4 percent increase in each year of the agreement.
Teamsters Local 202 members approved their new union contract with the largest raises in the history of its bargaining unit more than 97 percent of workers voted in favor.
“Our merchants in the Hunts Point Produce Market have been feeding New Yorkers for over 200 years,” said Stephen Katzman, owner and president of S. Katzman Produce and Co-President of the Hunts Point Cooperative Board. “We have kept the city fed throughout the Great Depression, two World Wars, two recessions, and now a global pandemic, without ever breaking our crucial role in the food supply chain. We are dedicated to supporting our farmers, cus
Employees at the Hunts Point Produce Market were expected to start coming back to work on Sunday after a weeklong strike ended in a deal that includes their largest pay increase in decades and more money for health coverage.
Workers at the nation’s largest wholesale produce market will…