BIG BIG VICTORY AT GOLDEN FARM!

The Golden Farm workers have a contract!

The boycott is over!

Thanks for sending us the announcement of this excellent news, Occupy Kensington.

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The Golden Farm workers have a contract!

Almost 2 years after it first started, the boycott of Golden Farm is over!

Join the workers for a celebration BBQ on Saturday, 6/28, at 8 pm, at 351 E 4th St.

The contract includes paid sick days, holidays, and vacation time and a small raise which takes their pay above the minimum wage for the first time. It also includes a "good cause" clause, which requires that there be a reason for firing an employee and the right of the workers to have active union representation (something the owner, Sonny Kim, deeply objected to for the last two years).

This victory is a testimony to the determination of the Golden Farm workers, the support they received from their union, RWDSU Local 338, and from our community.

Thank you for your support.

The workers asked that we pass on these messages to the Kensington community.

"We the workers of Golden Farm thank you for all your help, thank you for your time on the picket line. Above all thank you for making this campaign a dream come true - a campaign that nobody stopped, only victory." Yours Truly Martin Gonzalez

"Hi, My name is Roberto and in the name of my co-workers from Golden Farm we greet you most sincerely and thank you very much to everyone of you for the unconditional help. This victory is also yours. Thank you to everyone and God bless you."

Occupy Kensington would also like to thank everyone who supported the boycott by not shopping there but also for all the other acts of support:

Thank you to everyone who spoke to Mr Kim or his manager expressing their support for the workers.

Thank you to the lady who went on vacation and left a note for her apartment sitter telling her where the best local takeouts were and NOT to shop in Golden Farm. (The sitter stopped by our picket line to find out why).

Thank you to the local graphic designer who made us very cool buttons and the teenage Hasidic rapper who composed a song for the workers.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the support fund for Felix's wife and children after he died and everyone who contributed to the Xmas toy drive for the worker's kids.

Thank you to the local blogger who wrote reviews of alternative places to buy good fruit and vegetables.

Thank you to the dedicated few who chalked the word BOYCOTT on the sidewalk day after day.

Thank you to everyone who joined us in front of the store for pickets or rallies and to everyone who stopped by to get updates and find out how the campaign was going.

And thanks also to the members of the Green Party, Socialist Alternative, Occuevolve, and OWS Labor Outreach Committee who helped us sustain the pickets over the course of the last 2 years and to the Rude Mechanical Orchestra for visiting us several times.


What next?

The boycott is over. For the workers in Golden Farm, the struggle continues. They have a contract; now they must ensure that Mr Kim abides by it. Occupy Kensington will continue to be in contact with the workers and let Mr. Kim know that our community continues to take an interest in their situation.

Occupy Kensington continues to meet, discuss, and campaign on issues both local and further afield. We have recently gotten involved with the $15 Now campaign, which is pushing for raising the minimum wage to $15.

In Seattle, they have already succeeded. San Francisco will vote on $15 this fall. In Chicago, 21 city aldermen have put forward a call for $15. In NY, it looks as if politicians at the city and state level are moving towards $10.10 statewide with a possibility of NYC being higher, at a maximum of $13.30. We think we should aim higher.

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To read about the history of this years-long labor dispute--including attempts at intimidation and efforts to pit immigrant groups against each other--visit the blog "Kensington Community Supporting Justice for Golden Farm Workers" at goldenfarmjustice.wordpress.com.

If you'd like to join a neighborhood group to get involved in workers' rights struggles and other significant issues of our time, see Occupy Kensington's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-Kensington/513510922042949.

15now.org, whose mission is to have the minimum wage set at $15 per hour, has a New York City branch, 15 Now NYC. Its Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/15NOWNYC.