A Popular NYC Bakery Pushes To Unionize

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Employees of Breads Bakery — the New York City bake shop chain known for its exquisite babkas and pastries — are unionizing, citing workplace safety and wage concerns, as well as political differences over Israel.

The Breaking Breads Union, which is forming under the umbrella of the United Auto Workers Local 2179, has had more than 30 percent of eligible employees sign authorization cards to join the union as of Jan. 6, Local 2179 officials said. The union would represent approximately 275 people, including bakers, kitchen staff, cashiers, baristas, porters, caterers and drivers, making it the biggest craft bakery union since the turn of the century.

For now, the Breaking Breads Union is requesting the bakery's owners to voluntarily recognize it. If not, the employees expect to petition the National Labor Relations Board for an election to legally recognize the union, UAW Local 2179 officials said.

"This company has underpaid, undervalued, disrespected, discriminated against, intimidated and hurt its workers," the Breaking Breads Union wrote in an Instagram post announcing the union.

Breads Bakery has not responded to a request for comment on the employees' claims as of 2 p.m. Tuesday. This article will be updated if they do.

The union said Breads Bakery earns over $30 million annually, yet pays workers between NYC's minimum wage and $20 per hour, with unreliable scheduling. The union also said that in August 2024, a worker suffered a concussion after a large locker fell, despite warnings that the locker was unsafe.

The employees also explicitly refuse to participate in projects like baking cookies featuring the Israeli flag, and demand an end to what they characterize as support for "the genocide happening in Palestine."

In the statement, the unionizing employees said their main demands were "a redistribution of profits, safer working conditions, more respect, and an end to this company's support of the genocide happening in Palestine."

Breads Bakery's flagship location is in Union Square, with outposts on the Upper East Side, Upper West Side and Rockefeller Center, with kiosks at Bryant Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park.

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