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January 19, 2021

Teamsters Condemn Arrests of Peaceful Hunts Point Strikers

Union on Strike Since Saturday Demanding $1 per Hour Raise for Essential Food Workers

Daniel Kane, Jr., President of Teamsters Local 202, condemned the arrests of several peaceful Teamster strikers on the picket line at Hunts Point Produce Market on Monday night.

“It is outrageous that after being called essential heroes for months, several of our members were arrested while peacefully protesting for a raise today,” said Kane.  “These are the essential workers who went to work every day through the worst of the pandemic to feed New York. 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.”

About 1,400 warehouse workers, drivers, and other members of Teamsters Local 202 went on strike Saturday after the companies failed to offer more than a small fraction of the raise workers need. Hunts Point Market employers received $15 million in forgivable PPP loans from the federal government.

“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,” said Kane. “We will stay on strike until these employers pay their workers the essential wage they deserve.”

Hunts Point Produce Market provides most of the fruit and vegetables sold and served at restaurants and stores in the New York City region. It has been called the largest produce market in the world.