NEW YORK
Greengrocer workers' victory
By Judi
Cheng
New York
After five months on strike--picketing every day in front of
greengrocery markets on Manhattan's Lower East Side--workers at
two of the stores have won union recognition. Elated workers
and their union supporters say it is a historic victory that
will help pave the way for organizing greengrocer workers
throughout the city. These workers are mostly Mexican
immigrants, many of them undocumented.
Local 169 of the Union of Needletrades, Industrial and
Textile Employees has signed a union contract with two store
owners. The contract provides workers for the first time with
at least minimum wage, overtime pay, and health insurance, paid
sick days and one-week vacation per year.
"It's a very small victory in terms of numbers, but in terms
of hope for the future, it's tremendous," said Jerry Dominguez,
director of the Mexican American Workers Association, the labor
group that began the drive for unionization.
He explained: "This will send a message to shop owners and
organized labor that we can organize against all odds. This
will open doors for all workers in New York City."
There are 14,000 Mexican workers employed by the produce
industry in New York. Most of them work 14-hour days, seven
days a week in sweatshop conditions preparing fruits,
vegetables and flowers. Most make less than minimum wage and
receive no benefits.
The success behind this landmark victory is due first and
foremost to the sacrifice of the immigrant workers of Local
169.
UNITE and the Lower East Side Community Labor Coalition
joined together to organize effective support for the strikers.
They joined forces to build community outreach, a boycott of
the stores and student activity in solidarity with the
workers.
In addition, a legal strategy by the union included
complaints to the New York State Department of Labor, the state
attorney general's office and the National Labor Relations
Board.
Thirty immigrant workers braved the possibility of
deportation and other penalties by testifying at hearings in
the union's legal cases.
"This allows us to get in the front door in other
neighborhoods where immigrant workers are working for less than
minimum wage, and to beat back this exploitation city wide,"
said Mike Donovan, an organizer for Local 169.
Daniel Lucas, a striker and native of Hidalgo, Mexico, has
been leafleting outside his former work place every day since
August 1999. "Now that we have benefits, it's a big difference
from before," he said. "We have dignity now, and we fought for
these rights."
Dominguez and Donovan spoke highly of Local 169 President
Ernesto Jofre's commitment to this immigrant worker
struggle.
On Jan. 3, the union signed a contract with the owner of
Adinah's and Fuji Apple groceries. With the contract signed,
these striking greengrocer workers returned to their jobs.
The union's boycott campaign will continue at Fruit and
Vegetable, on 7th Street and First Avenue in Manhattan.
Organizers say they will expand the campaign with the goal of
unionizing workers at all 21 groceries in the East Village.
Ultimately, they hope to negotiate directly with the Korean
Produce Association.
For more information, readers can contact Jerry Dominguez
and Local 169 at (212) 255-9655.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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