Dozens of workers are continuing to strike outside the Hunts Point
Produce Market Tuesday, demanding a raise and additional health care support.
Union leaders and members of Teamster Local 202 say they will continue to
strike until they get a raise of $1 an hour.
The Hunts Point Produce Market offered workers a raise of 32-cents, which
employees say is an embarrassment since hundreds of people have been working
through the pandemic and even battled the coronavirus.
Workers have been protesting peacefully, but police say several workers
were issued summons Monday for blocking traffic.
The union says some employees were actually arrested, which did not help to
recover the relationship between the workers and their employers.
President of Teamsters Local 202 Daniel Kane Jr. released a statement, saying:
“It is outrageous that after being called essential heroes for months, several
of our members were arrested while peacefully protesting for a raise.
The fact
that they were arrested on Martin Luther King Day reminds us what side of
history we are on.”
The Hunts Point Produce Market says in a statement that it is offering workers
benefits and wage increases over the next three years