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Taystee Bakery Organizing Campaign Records

Call Number

WAG.216

Date

1989-1996, inclusive

Creator

Community/Labor Campaign to Save Taystee Jobs

Extent

8.5 Linear Feet
in 8 record cartons and 1 manuscript box

Language of Materials

Materials are in English

Abstract

After the Taystee Bakery in Flushing, Queens shut down in 1992, the workers at the factory organized to attempt to create the first worker-owned commercial bakery in New York City. The collection is comprised of correspondence, reports, fliers, news articles, fundraising documents, newsletters, notes, photographs, legal and government documents, and other research and organizing materials related to both the protests against shutting down the Taystee Bakery and the attempt to create a worker-owned factory.

Historical/Biographical Note

Hundreds of workers lost their jobs when the Taystee Bakery in Flushing, Queens shut down in 1992. Citing the expense of operating in New York City, the bakery's parent company, Stroehmann Bakeries, moved to Pennsylvania.

Many of the workers at the now defunct Taystee Bakery joined forces in an attempt to create New York City's first worker-owned commercial bakery. By the fall of 1994, the Community/Labor Campaign to Save Taystee Jobs, Inc. had secured over $250,000 from banks, foundations, and religious organizations. Led by former Taystee workers Lynn Bell and Jennie Call, the nonprofit (sometimes referred to as the New York Bakery Project before the group's official incorporation) focused on finding a site for the new bakery and seeking out investment and partnership opportunities.

Arrangement

This collection has not been arranged by an archivist. The order in which the materials were sent to the Tamiment Library has been maintained.

Scope and Content Note

The collection is comprised of correspondence, reports, fliers, news articles, fundraising documents, newsletters, notes, photographs, legal and government documents, and other research and organizing materials related to both the protests against shutting down the Taystee Bakery and the attempt to create a worker-owned factory. The materials may have been compiled by Lynn Bell, one of the leaders of the Taystee campaign.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

The Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives has no information about copyright ownership for this collection and is not authorized to grant permission to publish or reproduce materials from it. Materials in this collection, which were created in 1989-1996, are expected to enter the public domain in 2117.

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form:

Identification of item, date; Taystee Bakery Organizing Campaign Records; WAG 216; Box number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Location of Materials

Materials are stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu at least two business days prior to research visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The provenance of this collection is unknown. The accession numbers associated with this collection are 1997.011, 1997.025, NPA.2000.227, and NPA.2000.236.

Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures

Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu, (212) 998-2630 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Collection processed by

Rachel Schimke, 2014

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-02-06 14:07:48 -0500.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid is in English

Processing Information

Materials were rehoused in archival boxes. Some loose papers were placed in archival folders. Any folder titles added by the archivist are indicated with square brackets.

Photographs and graphic materials separated from this collection during accessioning were established as a separate collection, the Taystee Bakery Photographs (PHOTOS 158). In 2014, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the Taystee Bakery Organizing Campaign Records (WAG 216).

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives

View Inventory

Box 1, 1989-1995, inclusive

Box: 1 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Content Note

About half of this box is research material on City Pride Bakery in Pittsburgh, the organization that served as the Taystee Bakery workers' inspiration. The materials include copies of City Pride Bakery's business plan and other reports; notes; correspondence; and its collective bargaining agreement, offering memoranda, and other legal documents. Also included are news articles on the bakery and City Pride Bakery's own research materials on employee ownership.

This box also contains contact information of government officials, labor organizers, members of the press, Taystee Bakery employees, and other groups and individuals collected by the Community/Labor Campaign to Save Taystee Jobs from form mailings, correspondence, government documents, press releases, notes, signup sheets, Taystee Bakery company documents, conference materials, and other sources. Other correspondence, reports, fliers, and notes document Taystee Bakery's work with and/or support of organizations such as the Steel Valley Authority; the Brooklyn and New York Committees for Jobs and Economic Justice; the Bakery and Confectionery Workers Union, Local 3; and various others.

Also included are press releases and newspaper clippings on corporations, labor issues, and/or development and construction in New York City, as well as a folder labeled "Pro-Media," which contains media coverage of the Taystee Bakery workers and a report on the group's publicity efforts. A small folder contains news clippings and fliers related to Reverend Timothy Mitchell of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Flushing, who served on the board of the Taystee Bakery workers' not-for-profit group.

Box 2, 1992-1995, inclusive

Box: 2 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Content Note

Most of this box is comprised of planning materials pertaining to the New York Bakery Project. Many of the documents are reports, presentation materials, and correspondence related to the project's marketing strategies, particularly its attempt to create a partnership with the Pathmark supermarket chain and various divisions of the New York City government. There are also many planning and research materials that pertain to the project's search for a site for the new bakery and the necessary equipment for the facility. Other materials include the project's agendas and minutes; budgets; and interview questions, resumes, and other documents related to the search for a general manager and a sales and marketing consultant for the project. There is also a small amount of material related to the various proposed names for the new bakery.

This box also contains correspondence with various foundations, government officials (including New York City mayor David Dinkins), and other groups and individuals, indicating their support of the Taystee Bakery workers' project, particularly the Taystee Bakery workers' federal grant application submitted with LEAP, Inc. Some of the Community/Labor Campaign to Save Taystee Job's newsletters and membership lists are also present.

To a much lesser extent, the box contains correspondence, fliers, and programs from and pertaining to labor and community events attended by Lynn Bell. There is also a small amount of material on the Taystee workers' support of the Bakery and Confectionary Workers, Local 3 in their contract negotiations with Pechter-Fields.

Box 3, 1991-1995, inclusive

Box: 3 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Content Note

This box is mainly comprised of planning materials pertaining to the New York Bakery Project. Much of the documentation is drafts of the project's business plan or correspondence with the New York City Industrial Development Agency regarding the business plan. There is also significant documentation of of the project's fundraising efforts, including grant proposals, correspondence and memoranda, agendas of the project's Capital Raising Subcommittee, and research on private and government funders. To a lesser extent, there is material related to the project's search for a site for the new bakery.

There is also a folder of programs, correspondence, fliers, and other materials from labor and community events attended by Lynn Bell.

Box 4, 1992-1995, inclusive

Box: 4 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Content Note

This box pertains to the Taystee Bakery workers' fundraising efforts. Materials include grant applications to foundations and government funders, research on foundations, and the New York Bakery Project's internal notes, reports, and other documentation on its fundraising goals and ideas.

Box 5, 1991-1996, inclusive

Box: 5 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Content Note

This box mostly contains news articles on the Taystee Bakery shutdown and the worker's efforts to create an employee-owned bakery.

There are also two binders that contain an assortment of news articles and correspondence to Lynn Bell.

Arrangement

News articles are arranged chronologically.

Box 6, 1991-1995, inclusive

Box: 6 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Content Note

This box is mostly comprised of early organizing materials from the Taystee Bakery workers' attempts to prevent the factory's closure, as well as some documents from the early aftermath of the shutdown. Materials include agendas and signup sheets from worker's meetings prior to the shutdown; supportive correspondence from government officials, unions, and other groups and individuals; work plans and other planning documents on the structure and tasks of the New York Bakery Project; and a study written in October 1992 by the consulting firm ICA Group regarding the feasibility of creating an employee or community-owned bakery, as well as materials from a presentation given on the study.

This box also contains a chronology of events leading up to and following the Taystee Bakery's closure; news articles and other research material on job creation and other employment issues; materials related to a screening of the Michael Moore film "Roger and Me" for Taystee workers; and a study on the social impact of shutting down the Taystee plant conducted by the Midwest Center for Labor Research.

Box 7, 1991-1995, inclusive

Box: 7 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Content Note

This box contains foundation research and fundraising materials, as well as fliers, newsletters, and other organizing materials created prior to the shutdown and in the immediate aftermath.

Box 8, 1991-1996, inclusive

Box: 8 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Content Note

Notebooks

Arrangement

Notebooks are arranged chronologically.

Box 9, 1992-1995, inclusive

Box: 9 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Scope and Content Note

This box contains photographs of workers' demonstrations, parties, and other events. It also includes several protest signs.

Box 10, 1992-1994, inclusive

Box: 10 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
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