Press release from the Laundry Workers Center via 99pickets. Today is the second day of the action; yesterday, five people were arrested during the occupation, but the picket continues 24/7 outside! If you're in New York, join them now at 63rd & 2nd Ave. Celebrate Labor Day weekend by taking collective action for economic justice!
Check Twitter hashtags for live updates: #OccupyHotnCrusty #99PKTS

Workers Allege Retaliatory Store Closure is an Employer Tactic to Break Recently Formed Union, the Hot and Crusty Workers Association

New York, NY, August 31 – Following news of an impending store closure, workers at the 63rd street location of Hot and Crusty bakery have called for a 24-hour picket and store occupation, alleging the company has deliberately withheld rent payments following a hard-fought and successful unionization drive in May 2012. The company, owned by private equity partner Mark Samson, gave the Hot and Crusty Workers Association 11 days notice of eviction from the property, informing employees that August 31st would be their last day.

The union, led by grassroots labor organization Laundry Workers Center and a contingent from Occupy Wall Street, students, faith and community members are occupying the workplace and holding an around-the-clock picket demanding the company discontinue its union-busting tactics, pay its rent immediately, and continue to negotiate a fair contract with its workers. The company has used several bait-and-switch tactics during negotiations, threatening workers’ immigration status to deter their commitment to continuing the fight.

The August 31 closure will mean the loss of 23 jobs – including those of employees with as many as twelve years of employment with the company. Workers allege owners, including Mark Samson, Evangelos Gavalas and Nick Glendis, have a demonstrated history of wage and hour violations, intimidation, retaliation and harassment of workers in several of their businesses, as well as a pattern of closing down shops and opening under different aliases to avoid legal and economic liability. Workers have filed charges at the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the company is closing the 63rd street shop to intimidate workers organizing at other Hot and Crusty locations.

The union, led by grassroots labor organization Laundry Workers Center and a contingent from Occupy Wall Street, students, faith and community members are occupying the workplace and holding an around-the-clock picket demanding the company discontinue its union-busting tactics, pay its rent immediately, and continue to negotiate a fair contract with its workers. The company has used several bait-and-switch tactics during negotiations, threatening workers’ immigration status to deter their commitment to continuing the fight.

Mahoma Lopez, a leader in the campaign who has worked at Hot and Crusty for over 7 years said “I want to send a message that we have to change the way immigrants are treated in this country. We have to show the bosses that we can’t be treated like animals any longer. We need to take radical action like people did in the civil rights movement, so that our voices can be heard. We are so happy to have the community here with us.”

Diego Ibanez, a member of Occupy Wall Street, emphasized the connection between Wall Street and workers, saying, “We’re sending a clear message to greedy bosses that we are watching and will not allow our people in he community to be oppressed any longer.”

@illuminator99 supporting the occupation with a night-time light display

Norman and Oriane Rousseau were homeowners who did everything "right" when they purchased their home. They had 30 percent of the purchase price as a down payment, and they made their payments on time. After being contacted about refinancing their mortgage, the Rousseau's “stated that they were only interested in obtaining a conventional 30-year, fixed-rate loan, and explained their desire to have consistent payments over the life of the loan.”

Via:

They were “assured … that they could significantly reduce their monthly payments, by more than $600 per month, with a lower interest refinance loan.” The bank assured them that the Payment Option ARM was “the new industry standard” that had “historically low rates that were continuing to decrease” and in “the worst case scenario [they were] assured that historical data for the index indicated that changes in interest rate were slight, and if an increase should occur it would have a negligible effect on their monthly payments of no more than a few dollars.”

The bank's promises about the new mortgage were not true, and before long the Rousseau's were faced with a much higher interest rate than promised and large fees added that they had not been told about. Around the same time, as we've heard over and over from homeowners, the bank began calling with claims that the couple had missed payments even after they provided documentation that they had been paid.

Phone calls from the bank came morning, noon, and late into the night even though Norman Rousseau had hired an attorney. A loan modification that never came through, additional fees and interest continued to pile up, and finally foreclosure, with eviction scheduled for Tuesday, May 15th, Mr. Rousseau went into his garage on Sunday morning and shot himself. The attorney won a two week extension of the eviction date on Tuesday.

Devastated in every possibly way, Oriane now can't even afford to bury her husband and is hoping the VA will be able to help. If you'd like to help, please contact the Rousseau's attorney, Chris Gardas: chrisgardas@comcast.net.

Full article with the court documents are here, and they detail much more thoroughly the misdeeds of Wells Fargo.

Vlad Teichberg of Occupy Wall Street discusses the police raid and continued police harassment on the studios of Global Revolution in Bushwick.

See previous reports here:

Occupy Wall Street Media Team Evicted From Rented Studio, 6 Arrested

Occupy Wall Street Media Team Livestreams From Inside Police Van

Confirmation via GlobalRevolutiontv that everyone has been arraigned, and now released from police custody.