New York Jewish Week via JTA — Employees at New York City’s biggest Israeli bakery chain say they have formed a union — and one of their top demands is “an end to this company’s support of the genocide happening in Palestine.”

As an example, they cited Breads Bakery’s participation in last year’s Great Nosh, a citywide festival of Jewish food held on Governor’s Island.

“The workers refuse to participate in Zionist projects such as fundraisers that support the ‘Israeli’ occupation of Palestine, baking cookies with the ‘Israeli’ flag, and catering events such as the Great Nosh, which are connected to organizations that donate millions each year to the IDF,” the union, which is calling itself Breaking Breads, said in a statement issued Tuesday.

The employees at Breads, a spinoff of a Tel Aviv bakery with six outposts in New York City, say “over 30%” of the company’s 275 workers signed cards in support of the union, which will be represented by United Auto Workers. They are alleging poor working conditions, low and unfair pay, and a lack of “respect” from management.

But the workers are also calling on the bakery’s operators, CEO Yonatan Floman and founder Gadi Peleg, to end Breads’ ties to Israel. Both men are Jewish Israelis, and Breads’ menu features items from across the Jewish diaspora that are popular in Israel, such as rugelach, challah, bourekas, and its award-winning babka.

“We cannot and will not ignore the implicit and explicit support this bakery has for Israel,” Breaking Breads posted on Instagram on January 1 in a statement that appeared in English, Spanish, Arabic, and French. It said it had announced itself to Breads’ management days earlier.

“We see our struggles for fair pay, respect, and safety as connected to struggles against genocide and forces of exploitation around the world,” the statement continued. “There are deep cultural changes that need to happen here, and we need to see accountability from upper management.”

US labor laws do not generally enable unions to make political demands of employers, or protect employees’ ability........

© The Times of Israel