Tribute to the Strikers of Stella D'Oro


The workers of the Stella D'Oro bakery in the Bronx, New York City, went on strike in 2008, protesting demands by new owners of the company for drastic cuts in wages and benefits. They were on strike for more than a year, until the summer of 2009 when they won a favorable ruling from the National Labor Relations Board. The company was ordered to allow all the strikers to return to work under the terms of their old contract and to negotiate in good faith with the union. The result: The company announced that it would sell the plant. In November, 2009, the Stella D'Oro bakery was closed, production and equipment moved to a non-union facility in Ohio. 

The following poem was written for the "Poetry of Resistance" event, sponsored by the Activist Poets' Roundtable in New York City in October, 2009, where three Stella D'Oro strikers were honored guests. It was also read at the final rally held by the strikers at the plant in November. 


  Warriors

  You dwarf the words of the poet: you, 
  the warriors of Stella D’Oro. 
  For the best I might ever do 
  is recount this story which your deeds 
            have already written.

  The end, it seems, was composed by others— 
  who have more power but less humanity. 
  A toast, therefore, to all still holding 
  heads high, proud of their humanity. 
  For this is the common cause any poet 
  might share with those who fight 
            for justice.

  Each one of you will always have 
  your humanity: the many-thousand acts, 
  small and large, of sacrifice and sharing, 
  the comradeship, the sheer magnitude of what 
            you have achieved. 

  Not one crossed the picket line. No,
            not one.

  For these things can never be taken away 
  no matter how much equipment 
  is dismantled, moved to another state--
  just as the poet will always 
  have the written word, even if 
  our world might not be ready yet
            to listen.

  It seems you spoke too soon, you
  the warriors of Stella D’Oro, 
  before our world was ready to listen. 
  Still, I refuse to lose heart, assert 
  that one day the bosses and billionaires 
  will spend a little time of their own 
  on the unemployment line—after 
  the working people of New York City 
            have taken control. 

  And then we will turn that old building 
  in the Bronx (you know, the one that used to be
  the Stella D’Oro bakery) into a must-see 
  destination, marked on every 
  tourist map, a shrine which pilgrims 
  can visit in their millions to learn, 
  remember, offer a tribute 
  to your struggle—writing, thereby, 
  an alternative ending to the story 
            of Stella D’Oro.

  And the poem that you have composed for us
  during this strike year of 2008/2009 will touch 
  their hearts as each one listens to its words--
  overflowing with your humanity, the many-thousand 
  acts of sacrifice and sharing, the comradeship, 
  the sheer magnitude of what one, 
            small, 
                      courageous 
  work-place was able to achieve
            and finally understand.

  Yes, each one of them will,
            finally,
                      understand.