Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez celebrated a pay rise for Teamsters workers in a Bronx product market following a week-long strike that ended Sunday.
“Our food workers wanted a $ 1 increase after risking their lives in COVID. They were refused, asked to pay more for medical care and told they were “lucky to even have a job,” she said. wrote on Twitter on Saturday afternoon of workers in Hunts Point Produce Market. “It simply came to our notice then. The community supported them. Now I’m getting an increase of $ 1.85 and $ 0 out of pocket. “
Ocasio-Cortez spent the opening day picketing the 1,400 local members 202 working in the market – who supply 60 percent of the region’s products.
Ninety-seven percent of union members officially voted Saturday morning for a new contract that will increase their hourly wage by $ 1.85 over three years, said local 202 president Danny Kane Jr.
The first crew was due to return to work at 2 a.m. Sunday.
“Workers do not often take their fate into their own hands and decide to put their hands together to fight for a better tomorrow. These workers did that, ”said Kane Jr., as he celebrated the rise in salaries with champagne toast outside the union’s Bronx headquarters, surrounded by State Assemblywoman Anada Septimno and City Councilor Rafael Salamanca.