The Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market in the Bronx supplies the majority of New York City’s fruits and vegetables. It is the largest wholesale produce market of its kind in the world, with more than 210 million packages of produce passing through it each year. Had the market shut down during the pandemic, the crisis would have been much, much worse for the city’s residents — there were already hours-long lines to get into grocery stores, but imagine if those stores were empty. That this didn’t happen is thanks to the workers who risked contracting COVID-19 to transport the produce.

Now, these workers have walked off the job. At 12:01 AM on Sunday, January 17, some 1,400 employees at the Hunts Point produce market went on strike — from warehouse workers to truck drivers, the strike encompasses every member of the union. The workers, members of Teamsters Local 202, decided to strike after contract negotiations broke down over a wage dispute. The workers want a $1-an-hour raise, plus a 60 cent hourly raise to fund health care benefits, while Hunts Point is only offering 32 cents.

“The majority of the workers have an average base salary between $18 and $21 an hour,” reads a statement released by the union on Saturday, January 16. “Employers in the market, who collectively bill billions of dollars in annual sales, received more than $15 million in forgivable PPP loans during the pandemic.” According to Local 202 president Dan Kane, the striking workers make between $30,000 and $40,000.