NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) The product shelves at your grocery store may not be full any time soon, as most workers at the Hunts Point Terminal Market in the Bronx are on strike now.
Employees say the dispute with their bosses is more than an increase of $ 1 per hour, John Dias of CBS2 reported on Sunday.
The direct demand comes from more than 1,400 essential employees in New York.
“Fight for our rights and for better pay,” said truck driver Wilford Alexander.
Every member of Teamsters Local 202 on the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market is now on strike after the market refused their request for a $ 1 hour increase.
The counter-offer of the market was an increase of 32 cents per hour.
‘It’s not good enough to just clap for it and say it’s necessary. When asked for a decent increase, a reasonable number, they should be told, “Yes, you can have it, and thank you,” said Danny Kane, president of Teamsters Local 202.
From warehouse workers to truck drivers, it is the men and women who, according to the Teamsters Union, helped feed the Three-State Territory during the coronavirus pandemic, with a base salary of $ 40,000 a year.
“They can’t telecommunicate, they can’t turn it on. They have to show up,” Kane said. ‘We finally realize that these people did not become essential during the pandemic. They are essential forever. ”
Most workers say they need the increase to help their families.
Dock worker Jimmy Morales said he puts in ten hours a day, six days a week.
“We come here, work in the cold, rain, heat,” Morales said.
Many of them are paying a price to work through the global health crisis.
‘Infected, many, many are infected. I want to say 300 to 400 people are infected, “said Leonardo Servedio, 202 VP, Teamsters Local.
According to Servedio, six union workers died at COVID-19.
‘Very angry because they have no remorse. They do not care, “he said.
The Hunts Point Terminal Market is the largest wholesale product market in the world. It provides 22 million people in 49 states.
The union said without these workers to sort and deliver the products, the food supply of the Tri-State area would be severely affected.
The union has not gone on strike like this for almost 35 years. Workers said they will not go to work again until they get the full increase.
No one from the Hunts Point Produce Market Cooperative would talk to CBS2 on camera.
A statement said the market was still open for business and was disappointed that the union had walked away from the negotiating table more than a week ago.
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