Wobblies march, picket Brooklyn warehouse - A line is drawn in the sand as IWW fights back against illegal firings at Handy Fat
Submitted on Wed, 01/17/2007 - 1:27am
click here for video footage.
On January 15, 2007, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, over one hundred and twenty IWW union members, supporters and labor movement allies marched on and picketed the warehouse of Handyfat Trading Inc. in Brooklyn. Ten days earlier, Handyfat owner Dennis Ho illegally fired nine workers in retaliation for their union activity, but allegedly over immigration status. Monday, Ho shut down Handyfat’s operations rather than face the picketing workers, at a loss of tens of thousands of dollars in business. With its workforce out on strike and the sight of daily picket lines a looming reality, Handyfat was given two choices by the Wobblies: back down or shut down.
Handyfat owner Dennis Ho fired the workers after the union filed a federal lawsuit demanding payment of over $100,000 in unpaid back wages. Union members say that management’s claim that workers were fired because of their immigration status is ridiculous, as many of those workers have been at Handyfat for over ten years, and were only fired after organizing on the job.
“The boss fired us now and it’s unjust because we’ve always worked very hard for him and all of a sudden he says he fired us because we don’t have papers,” said Handyfat worker Pedro Campos.
Workers like Pedro were not alone on the picket line. Union members from Laborers Local 79 and 108, Transit Workers Union Local 100, the 318 Restaurant Workers Union, United Electrical and the IWW’s Starbucks Workers Union marched with them, along with activists from the Million Worker March movement, NY Metro Area Anarchist Alliance, the Internationalists and Make the Road By Walking/Se Hace Camino Al Andar. The march and picket line even had its own marching band ensemble, courtesy of the Hungry March Band and Rude Mechanical Orchestra. When organizers told the police escort they intended to march right down the high-traffic Morgan Avenue to the warehouse, the only response from police was, “go for it.” Energy was high and it was clear their momentum was only building.
“A line has been drawn in the sand,” said Billy Randel, one of the union’s organizers. “We’re gonna fight, we’re disciplined and we will win.”
The strike at Handyfat is a part of a much larger campaign confronting unfair labor practices and mistreatment at food and restaurant supply warehouses in Brooklyn and Queens. Other companies include EZ Supply/Sunrise Plus, where thirteen workers were fired on December 28th for union activity, Amersino, where five workers were fired after voting to form a union, Top City Produce and Giant Big Apple Beer, Inc. Picket lines will stay up at Handyfat and organizing will continue at other warehouses until the fired workers are reinstated and back wages are paid in full. Workers say they’re in it for the long haul, despite the hardships.
“It’s clear that it was discrimination for trying to form a union,” another fired worker, Antonio Rodriguez added, “because he said when I have work for you, I’ll let you know. And he never called.”
For more information on the ongoing IWW’s Food Industry and Allied Workers campaign, visit http://www.wobblycity.org or contact [email protected].