On October 26, workers of the 63rd Street and 2nd Avenue Hot and Crusty bakery ended a 55-day picket line against shop closure. After weeks of struggle, workers have reached a bargaining agreement that recognizes the Hot and Crusty Workers Association as a union. In a historic victory for all low-paid service workers, the new agreement provides a union hiring hall, paid sick and vacation days, wage increases, and a means to address grievances that arise in the workplace.
Employees worked for years under hazardous work conditions. Workers, tired of the rampant abuse, harassment, unpaid overtime, and minimum wage theft, got organized in the workplace and went public with the campaign on January 21, 2012. They reached out to Virgilio Aran, president and organizer of Laundry Workers Center (LWC) and OWS Immigrant Worker Justice working group. For 11 months, Hot and Crusty workers received training and support from LWC on how to lead their struggle by example and demonstrate that immigrant workers can organize in the workplace.
In May 2012, the 23 employees voted to form an independent association with the National Labor Relations Board. Rather than recognize the Hot and Crusty Workers Association as a certified union, the owners announced that they were shutting down the shop. The workers then filed charges at the National Labor Relations Board against the company for the shop closing.
Diego Ibanez, a member of Occupy Wall Street, describes how the occupation of Hot and Crusty began: The Hot and Crusty workers came to OWS Immigrant Worker Justice working group angry that they had played by all the rules of the game, and still the owners ignored their plea to work with dignity. When they approached IWJ with the idea of an occupation, we were very humbled. We wanted to make sure that they all were comfortable with what was going to happen and what consequences that might arise. We talked about how it was going to happen and what roles we were all going to play. Mahoma was going to give us the signal after he got fired, which we thought could be Friday, August 31, in the afternoon. Luckily, we were right. It was very important that he got fired first before we took action; in that way, the occupation would be justified.
When he gave us the signal, we marched in with banners and a band and cleared the tables for a workers assembly. It was a powerful and magical moment. This occupation and the actions that followed were complete challenges to the power dynamics. For once the workers were able to balance out this uneven structure. Like Mahoma stated, the campaign is done but the struggle has just begun. The workers leading the campaign received tremendous support from OWS and the community. By organizing a 24-hour picket, the occupation of Hot and Crusty bakery was possible.
The Hot and Crusty Workers Association took Hasta la Victoria! as their slogan for the campaign because the intention was to win. Workers organized a successful 55-day picket which attracted support from the community, rank-and-file members from labor unions, Hunter College faculty and students, and other grassroots organizations. Messages of solidarity were received from across the country, proving that when workers get organized, injustice can be defeated.
Mahoma Lopez, organizer with the Laundry Workers Center and a leader of the campaign who has worked at the Hot and Crusty bakery for seven years, stated: The workers began organizing in the workplace were inspired by other Hot and Crusty locations that have come forward with allegations of wage theft and work violations. The 63rd Street workers held a meeting with the bosses to address wage raises and unsafe work conditions. The bosses responded by calling immigration (ICE) and threatening to fire all of them, and the workers took a bold approach and responded, Go ahead; call ICE.
Workers continue their campaign at the picket line, seeing it as a fight that is necessary to win against oppressive work conditions. It does not matter if we do a good job – we are always threatened to be fired because for the bosses we are never good enough. If we do not get organized, we are still at risk of losing our job.
The Hot and Crusty Workers Association campaign is a victory for all workers. In particular, its dynamic strategy and militant leadership will be an inspiration in this time of stagnation in the labor movement. These workers showed you can challenge the greedy system built under capitalism. The exploitation of low-wage immigrant workers is an attack on all workers rights and is unacceptable. The Hot and Crusty campaign shows that when workers get organized, there is no stopping them.