Hot & Crusty

La Lucha Sigue

"We are putting an example out there for other workers, and other immigrant workers, that anything is possible when you organize. We want others to take this victory to their own workplaces so we can make change in this country.”

--Mahoma Lopez, worker and leader of the Hot & Crusty Workers Association; member of Laundry Workers Center.

The Hot & Crusty Campaign is an example of independent organizing to fight for better terms and conditions of employment. The mostly immigrant workers at Hot & Crusty won a historic contract through 11 months of intense organizing and almost two months on the picket line, demonstrating that real changes are possible when workers decide to fight together in the workplace. These workers organized outside the structures of traditional labor unions and were backed by a variety of community organizations, including Laundry Workers Center. The Hot & Crusty Workers Association has been a source of inspiration for other fast food campaigns.

*For a more detailed timeline, see below.

New York Times Op-Doc about Hot & Crusty

By Rachel Lears and Robin Blotnick

Read Article

Keep an eye out for the full-length documentary, The Hand That Feeds, being released in 2014!

January 21, 2012:

The Hot & Crusty Campaign goes public after months of underground organizing. Workers from Hot & Crusty deliver a demand letter to management with support from the community in an LWC Day of Action.

April 26, 2013:

LWC members and Hot & Crusty workers speak in the Immigration and Labor Press Conference for OWS May Day, along with others in the May Day Coalition.

May, 1, 2012:

Laundry Workers Center members participate in a May 1st Rally in favor of immigrant and workers' rights.

May 23, 2012:
Victory! The Hot & Crusty Workers win their union election at the National Labor Relations Board and the Hot & Crusty Workers Association is officially recognized.

August 20, 2012:

August 31, 2012:
On the day that management plans to shut down the 63rd St. Hot & Crusty, Occupy Wall Street members occupy the store for several hours and six "Job Defenders" are arrested. Workers and community members picket and leaflet around the neighborhood. The store is closed and workers locked out. 

September 3, 2012:

Workers set up a "Worker Justice Cafe" on the sidewalk outside of the store. Coffee and baked goods are donated by community supporters, including Zabar’s and others, and distributed free to passersby.

September 10, 2012:

While workers and community members continue to picket, a new group of investors promises to reopen the store, rehire terminated workers and resume bargaining with the union, the Hot and Crusty Workers Association. The new company proposes to reopen in 2 weeks, and workers commit to continue the picket until the store re-opens.

October 18, 2012:

Members of dozens of labor and immigrant rights rally in solidarity with the Hot and Crusty workers.

October 26, 2012:

Victory! After 55 days on the picket line, the Hot & Crusty Workers Association wins a three year contract guaranteeing many benefits

January 28, 2013

The original members of the Hot and Crusty Workers Association return to work alongside many new members, in a newly renovated Hot & Crusty store.