Hunts Point Market Workers Approve 3-year Contract
Unionized workers at Hunts Point Market in the New York City borough of the Bronx have approved a new three-year contract by an overwhelming margin, with 97 percent voting in favor of it. The 1,300 workers, members of Teamsters Local 202, stand to receive considerable wage increases in each year of the contract.
"It's our best wage and benefits package in two decades," affirmed Daniel Kane Jr., president of Teamsters Local 202.
The workers had earlier voted to go on strike for the first time in three decades, when talks over wages broke down. They agreed to delay the strike at the behest of a federal mediator and returned to the bargaining table, which resulted in the current agreement.
However, the successfully negotiated contract "is only the first step in ensuring that Hunts Point Market remains a home for good jobs in the long term," said Kane. "Now it's time for our city government to step up and ensure that this public property has the necessary infrastructure to meet 21st-century needs and withstand the next hurricane."
Hunts Point, the largest produce market in the world, which serves most restaurants and grocers in the New York metropolitan answers, has long needed to be renovated, according to the Teamsters, with the situation growing even worse after the damage incurred by Hurricane Sandy in late 2012.