SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
"If you live in New York and had produce during the pandemic, odds are that's because of these workers," said journalist Alex Press. (Photo: Teamsters/Local 202/Joint Council 16)
Ocasio-Cortez, Sanders Lead Call for Solidarity With #HuntsPointStrike
"Essential workers should not have to go on strike for decent pay, and no worker should be threatened for exercising their constitutional rights."
Jan 19, 2021
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday expressed solidarity with roughly 1,400 essential workers at the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market in the Bronx, several of whom were arrested earlier this week while striking for hazard pay and better healthcare benefits during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"Essential workers should not have to go on strike for decent pay, and no worker should be threatened for exercising their constitutional rights," said Sanders, a democratic socialist from Vermont.
Sanders added that he supports the union-led effort, which seeks to raise wages by $1 per hour and secure improved benefits for those who work at the largest produce market in the world and have sacrificed to continue providing most of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the New York City region.
Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat who represents a congressional district that includes parts of the Bronx as well as Queens, also endorsed the strike.
She shared information about how to contribute moral or financial support to Teamsters Joint Council 16, which represents 120,000 employees in 27 locals, including the striking workers who are members of Local 202.
On strike since Saturday, six workers on the union's peaceful picket line were arrested between Monday night and Tuesday morning for blocking traffic.
"If you live in New York and had produce during the pandemic, odds are that's because of these workers," journalist Alex Press tweeted on Tuesday night. After having risked their health to feed millions of people throughout the pandemic, Press noted, "they deserve the city's solidarity, and it's a disgrace that any of them were arrested."
Daniel Kane Jr., president of Teamsters Local 202, also condemned the arrests. "It is outrageous that after being called essential heroes for months, several of our members were arrested while peacefully protesting for a raise today," Kane said Tuesday in a statement.
"These are the essential workers who went to work every day through the worst of the pandemic to feed New York," he continued. "All they are asking for is a dollar-an-hour raise so they can feed their families, too. The fact that they were arrested on Martin Luther King Day reminds us what side of history we are on."
"They can use riot cops to get trucks into the market, but the workers they need to unload the trucks are still on the picket line," the union leader added. "We will stay on strike until these employers pay their workers the essential wage they deserve."
In a video recorded earlier this week by a local CBS News channel, Kane said that "it's not good enough just to clap for them, and say they're essential. When they ask for a decent raise, a fair number, they should be told, 'Yes you can have that, and thank you.'"
Watch:
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Kenny Stancil
Kenny Stancil is senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project and a former staff writer for Common Dreams.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday expressed solidarity with roughly 1,400 essential workers at the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market in the Bronx, several of whom were arrested earlier this week while striking for hazard pay and better healthcare benefits during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"Essential workers should not have to go on strike for decent pay, and no worker should be threatened for exercising their constitutional rights," said Sanders, a democratic socialist from Vermont.
Sanders added that he supports the union-led effort, which seeks to raise wages by $1 per hour and secure improved benefits for those who work at the largest produce market in the world and have sacrificed to continue providing most of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the New York City region.
Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat who represents a congressional district that includes parts of the Bronx as well as Queens, also endorsed the strike.
She shared information about how to contribute moral or financial support to Teamsters Joint Council 16, which represents 120,000 employees in 27 locals, including the striking workers who are members of Local 202.
On strike since Saturday, six workers on the union's peaceful picket line were arrested between Monday night and Tuesday morning for blocking traffic.
"If you live in New York and had produce during the pandemic, odds are that's because of these workers," journalist Alex Press tweeted on Tuesday night. After having risked their health to feed millions of people throughout the pandemic, Press noted, "they deserve the city's solidarity, and it's a disgrace that any of them were arrested."
Daniel Kane Jr., president of Teamsters Local 202, also condemned the arrests. "It is outrageous that after being called essential heroes for months, several of our members were arrested while peacefully protesting for a raise today," Kane said Tuesday in a statement.
"These are the essential workers who went to work every day through the worst of the pandemic to feed New York," he continued. "All they are asking for is a dollar-an-hour raise so they can feed their families, too. The fact that they were arrested on Martin Luther King Day reminds us what side of history we are on."
"They can use riot cops to get trucks into the market, but the workers they need to unload the trucks are still on the picket line," the union leader added. "We will stay on strike until these employers pay their workers the essential wage they deserve."
In a video recorded earlier this week by a local CBS News channel, Kane said that "it's not good enough just to clap for them, and say they're essential. When they ask for a decent raise, a fair number, they should be told, 'Yes you can have that, and thank you.'"
Watch:
Kenny Stancil
Kenny Stancil is senior researcher at the Revolving Door Project and a former staff writer for Common Dreams.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday expressed solidarity with roughly 1,400 essential workers at the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market in the Bronx, several of whom were arrested earlier this week while striking for hazard pay and better healthcare benefits during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"Essential workers should not have to go on strike for decent pay, and no worker should be threatened for exercising their constitutional rights," said Sanders, a democratic socialist from Vermont.
Sanders added that he supports the union-led effort, which seeks to raise wages by $1 per hour and secure improved benefits for those who work at the largest produce market in the world and have sacrificed to continue providing most of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the New York City region.
Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat who represents a congressional district that includes parts of the Bronx as well as Queens, also endorsed the strike.
She shared information about how to contribute moral or financial support to Teamsters Joint Council 16, which represents 120,000 employees in 27 locals, including the striking workers who are members of Local 202.
On strike since Saturday, six workers on the union's peaceful picket line were arrested between Monday night and Tuesday morning for blocking traffic.
"If you live in New York and had produce during the pandemic, odds are that's because of these workers," journalist Alex Press tweeted on Tuesday night. After having risked their health to feed millions of people throughout the pandemic, Press noted, "they deserve the city's solidarity, and it's a disgrace that any of them were arrested."
Daniel Kane Jr., president of Teamsters Local 202, also condemned the arrests. "It is outrageous that after being called essential heroes for months, several of our members were arrested while peacefully protesting for a raise today," Kane said Tuesday in a statement.
"These are the essential workers who went to work every day through the worst of the pandemic to feed New York," he continued. "All they are asking for is a dollar-an-hour raise so they can feed their families, too. The fact that they were arrested on Martin Luther King Day reminds us what side of history we are on."
"They can use riot cops to get trucks into the market, but the workers they need to unload the trucks are still on the picket line," the union leader added. "We will stay on strike until these employers pay their workers the essential wage they deserve."
In a video recorded earlier this week by a local CBS News channel, Kane said that "it's not good enough just to clap for them, and say they're essential. When they ask for a decent raise, a fair number, they should be told, 'Yes you can have that, and thank you.'"
Watch:
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.