Looming Strike at Hunts Point Market Could Be Trouble for Small Restaurants

The workers of Hunts Point Market, the massive Bronx wholesale market that supplies a large number of New York's restaurants with produce, are threatening to go on strike if they can't renegotiate their contract to their satisfaction. Yesterday the union, which has been pushing for a $5 a day pay raise among other things, voted to authorize a strike as soon as the workers' contract expires. That happens at midnight tonight, which means 1,300 workers could walk out as early as tomorrow morning.

If that happens, a lot of restaurants will be left in the lurch. It's not that restaurants will suddenly run out of produce entirely – they'll still be able to get stuff from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. But, as Reuters points out, this will be a burden for everyone but the big guys. A lot of smaller restaurants go directly to Hunts Point to buy their produce, and it saves them a lot of money. Having to get it trucked in from another state could be a big financial burden.