Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez celebrated a pay hike for Teamsters workers in a Bronx manufacturing market after a week-long strike that would end Sunday.
“Our food producers wanted a $ 1 raise because they had put their lives on the line in COVID. They were refused, asked to pay more for health care and told ‘you are lucky you even have a job’, ”she said tweeted Saturday afternoon of Hunts Point Produce Market employees. So they went on strike. The community supported them. Now they are getting a $ 1.85 raise and $ 0 out of pocket. “
Ocasio-Cortez spent the Inauguration Day picketing with the 1,400 Local 202 members manning the market, supplying 60 percent of the regional produce.
Ninety-seven percent of union members officially voted Saturday morning on a new contract that will increase their hourly wages by $ 1.85 over the course of three years, said Danny Kane Jr., president of Local 202.
The first crew would return to work at 2 a.m. on Sunday.
“It is not often that workers take control of their destiny and decide to join forces to fight for a better future. These workers did, ”said Kane Jr. as he celebrated the pay rise with a champagne toast outside the Bronx union headquarters, flanked by MP Anada Septimno and City Councilor Rafael Salamanca.