Bagel Bakers Local 338
Encyclopedia
The Bagel Bakers Local 338 was a trade union
local
that was established in the early 1900s in New York City
and whose craftsmen were the primary makers of New York's bagel
s, prepared by hand, until the advent of machine-made bagels in the 1960s led to its end as an independent organization in the 1970s.
's Lower East Side
, in which workers worked under difficult conditions for minimal wages. To represent these workers, The International Beigel Bakers Union was established. Local 338 was established by 300 bagel craftsmen who joined together in Manhattan
, establishing standards for bagel production by hand and mandating that new spots in the union be handed to sons of existing local members. All of the local's members were Jewish and meetings were conducted in Yiddish. By 1915, the local had contracts with 36 bakeries in the New York City area.
The bagels they prepared by hand weighed about 2 to 3 oz (56.7 to 85 g), with bagels commonly prepared by the 1990s typically being double that size, or larger. These smaller and denser bagels were made with high-gluten flour, mixed with malt syrup, salt, water and yeast, using a zealously guarded recipe, and would become hard after about six hours. They would be rolled into strips two inches in diameter and formed by hand into bagels, boiled in hot water for one minute and then placed to bake in an oven. The finished products were delivered to customers on strings of five dozen bagels. The profession was divided into the bench men, who were responsible for kneading, shaping and boiling the bagels, with the oven men finishing the job.
called a "bagel famine", with the two remaining bakeries unable to keep up with the 1.2 million weekly demand for the product. As a result of the work stoppage, area delicatessen
s reported that sales of lox
had dropped by as much as 30 to 50%. Murray Nathan, who had successfully resolved a smoked salmon strike in 1948, was brought in by the New York State Board of Mediation to help get the two sides to meet. Local 338 had settled by late January, but the bagel outage lasted until early February, when the Bagel Bakers Association reached a deal to compensate the drivers who deliver the bagels for the wages lost during the seven-week stoppage.
While a threatened 1956 strike was averted when Local 338 members received an additional $6 in weekly wages, bringing pay to between $70 and $138 per week, in addition to an 11th paid annual holiday and increased pension fund contributions, a 33-day long strike in 1957 was ended with further improvements in salaries and benefits for 350 striking workers at 34 area bakeries.
By 1960, the local's 350 workers were producing 250,000 bagels each day. For a 37-hour work week, a bench man was paid $144 and an oven man $6 more, with opportunities to more than double that in overtime when demand required.
Local 338 went out on strike in February 1962, leading to an estimated 85% drop in the bagel supply. 10 bakeries, half in New Jersey
, had signed contracts with the union, while 29 other bakeries were shut down in the job action, leaving New York City and adjoining Nassau County
hardest hit by the closures. Local 338 was seeking a third week of paid vacation and three more paid holidays. Employers countered with an offer of one additional paid holiday and wage increases that could be applied as the union saw fit. In the two-year agreement reached on March 8 to settle the month-long strike, workers would receive an additional $2 daily in the first year, on top of the $25 to $26 per day received under the one-year agreement that had just ended. Workers would receive another $1 per day in the second year of the contract and a third paid week of vacation, in addition to other benefit changes and the two dozen bagels per day each member was already entitled to receive.
Employers staged a lockout of Local 338 in February 1967, after they demanded a 40% wage reduction, citing losses incurred by the bagel bakeries due to competition from non-union shops, frozen bagels brought in from outside the area and companies using automated equipment. At the time, Local 338 was willing to consider rollbacks to individual bakeries on a case-by-case basis for those companies that would open their books and demonstrate financial need for the wage cuts.
in New Haven, Connecticut
started using the machines in 1962, helping turn the bagel into a readily-available commodity. The bagel-making machinery could produce 300 dozen bagels in the time that two men working together could roll 125 dozen. The union ended its independent life in the early 1970s when it merged into a broader baker's union.
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
local
Local union
A local union, often shortened to local, in North America, or a union branch in the United Kingdom and other countries is a locally-based trade union organization which forms part of a larger, usually national, union.Local branches are organized to represent the union's members from a particular...
that was established in the early 1900s in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and whose craftsmen were the primary makers of New York's bagel
Bagel
A bagel is a bread product, traditionally shaped by hand into the form of a ring from yeasted wheat dough, roughly hand-sized, which is first boiled for a short time in water and then baked. The result is a dense, chewy, doughy interior with a browned and sometimes crisp exterior...
s, prepared by hand, until the advent of machine-made bagels in the 1960s led to its end as an independent organization in the 1970s.
Formation
Jewish immigrants brought the bagel to the United States at the turn of the 20th century, with hundreds of small bagel bakeries sprouting up in ManhattanManhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
's Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
, in which workers worked under difficult conditions for minimal wages. To represent these workers, The International Beigel Bakers Union was established. Local 338 was established by 300 bagel craftsmen who joined together in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, establishing standards for bagel production by hand and mandating that new spots in the union be handed to sons of existing local members. All of the local's members were Jewish and meetings were conducted in Yiddish. By 1915, the local had contracts with 36 bakeries in the New York City area.
The bagels they prepared by hand weighed about 2 to 3 oz (56.7 to 85 g), with bagels commonly prepared by the 1990s typically being double that size, or larger. These smaller and denser bagels were made with high-gluten flour, mixed with malt syrup, salt, water and yeast, using a zealously guarded recipe, and would become hard after about six hours. They would be rolled into strips two inches in diameter and formed by hand into bagels, boiled in hot water for one minute and then placed to bake in an oven. The finished products were delivered to customers on strings of five dozen bagels. The profession was divided into the bench men, who were responsible for kneading, shaping and boiling the bagels, with the oven men finishing the job.
Labor actions and wage history
A December 1951 labor dispute between Local 338 and the Bagel Bakers Association closed 32 of the city's bagel bakeries, leading to what The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
called a "bagel famine", with the two remaining bakeries unable to keep up with the 1.2 million weekly demand for the product. As a result of the work stoppage, area delicatessen
Delicatessen
Delicatessen is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". The word entered English via German,with the old German spelling , plural of Delikatesse "delicacy", ultimately from Latin delicatus....
s reported that sales of lox
Lox
Lox is salmon fillet that has been cured. In its most popular form, it is thinly sliced—less than in thickness—and, typically, served on a bagel, often with cream cheese, onion, tomato, cucumber and capers...
had dropped by as much as 30 to 50%. Murray Nathan, who had successfully resolved a smoked salmon strike in 1948, was brought in by the New York State Board of Mediation to help get the two sides to meet. Local 338 had settled by late January, but the bagel outage lasted until early February, when the Bagel Bakers Association reached a deal to compensate the drivers who deliver the bagels for the wages lost during the seven-week stoppage.
While a threatened 1956 strike was averted when Local 338 members received an additional $6 in weekly wages, bringing pay to between $70 and $138 per week, in addition to an 11th paid annual holiday and increased pension fund contributions, a 33-day long strike in 1957 was ended with further improvements in salaries and benefits for 350 striking workers at 34 area bakeries.
By 1960, the local's 350 workers were producing 250,000 bagels each day. For a 37-hour work week, a bench man was paid $144 and an oven man $6 more, with opportunities to more than double that in overtime when demand required.
Local 338 went out on strike in February 1962, leading to an estimated 85% drop in the bagel supply. 10 bakeries, half in New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
, had signed contracts with the union, while 29 other bakeries were shut down in the job action, leaving New York City and adjoining Nassau County
Nassau County, New York
Nassau County is a suburban county on Long Island, east of New York City in the U.S. state of New York, within the New York Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,339,532...
hardest hit by the closures. Local 338 was seeking a third week of paid vacation and three more paid holidays. Employers countered with an offer of one additional paid holiday and wage increases that could be applied as the union saw fit. In the two-year agreement reached on March 8 to settle the month-long strike, workers would receive an additional $2 daily in the first year, on top of the $25 to $26 per day received under the one-year agreement that had just ended. Workers would receive another $1 per day in the second year of the contract and a third paid week of vacation, in addition to other benefit changes and the two dozen bagels per day each member was already entitled to receive.
Employers staged a lockout of Local 338 in February 1967, after they demanded a 40% wage reduction, citing losses incurred by the bagel bakeries due to competition from non-union shops, frozen bagels brought in from outside the area and companies using automated equipment. At the time, Local 338 was willing to consider rollbacks to individual bakeries on a case-by-case basis for those companies that would open their books and demonstrate financial need for the wage cuts.
Demise
The union controlled the market for decades, until the advent of automation in the 1960s, when Canadian Dan Thompson invented the Thompson Bagel Machine. Lender's BagelsLender's Bagels
Lender's Bagels is a brand and producer of bagels that pioneered the bagel industry in the United States. Established in 1927 in New Haven, Connecticut, it became a North American leader in the marketing, distribution and sales of bagels. Lender's introduced frozen bagels and sold the first...
in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
started using the machines in 1962, helping turn the bagel into a readily-available commodity. The bagel-making machinery could produce 300 dozen bagels in the time that two men working together could roll 125 dozen. The union ended its independent life in the early 1970s when it merged into a broader baker's union.