Rob AriasUnionized workers at Urban Ore kicked off what they are calling an open-ended strike on Saturday to protest what they claim are unfair labor practices by the company.
For the uninitiated, Urban Ore is a 45-year-old, family-run salvage yard and reuse store a block across Emeryville’s northern border at 900 Murray St. in West Berkeley. They stock building materials, furniture, clothing, household items, sporting goods, art … just about anything can be found in their sprawling warehouse.
Urban Ore was founded in 1980 by Dan Knapp, a sociologist, and his wife of 40 years, Mary Lou Van Deventer, an environmental journalist. Following a mandate by the City of Berkeley to reduce landfill waste, they founded Urban Ore to help resale used items that would normally be scrapped.
They solidified their mission in 1991, “To End The Age of Waste,” reflecting their dedication to environmental sustainability through the reclamation and resale of discarded materials.
The business persisted throughout the 1990s often ”dangling by a thread.” In 2002, with the help of the City of Berkeley, they moved to a corrugated sheet metal warehouse at 900 Murray Street.
The warehouse was originally built for Tay-Holbrook, Inc., c. 1946. Tay-Holbrook, a consolidation of two companies, was a Gold Rush-era supplier of metal stoves and ranges that evolved into a general plumbing supply company. At the time, it was “one of the largest warehouses ever to be built in Berkeley.”
Tay-Holbrook declared bankruptcy in 1964 and disappeared from news archives shortly after. The building was next occupied by East Bay Steel who liquidated in 1999.
Urban Ore slowly found its footing over the next decade. They eventually became profitable and acquired the warehouse and 3-acre property in 2009.
The facility now claims to divert approximately 20 tons of waste from landfills daily. As of 2023, they employed a staff of 37.
They continue to procure unique and vintage (and frequently bizarre) items that regularly share on their social media channels.
Urban Ore Survives COVID, Can they Survive a Labor Dispute?
While COVID knocked out many in the second-hand salvaged goods industry, Urban Ore has been able to withstand it and even thrive. Nearby Ohmega Salvage was not as fortunate and closed in 2023 after 49 years in business.
Knapp and Van Deventer, who are now both in their 80s, have been looking to transition away from the daily operations for years and have been exploring ways of transferring the business to employees as a worker-owned cooperative to preserve the company’s legacy and ensure its continued commitment to zero-waste principles.
Workers have lost patience during this time and in 2023, they began organizing and pushing for employee unionization.
2023 – Union Vote Certified Without Challenge
In April 2023, citing understaffing, high turnover, and wage structure, Urban Ore workers voted to unionize with Industrial Workers of the World (IWW).
The IWW, also known as the “Wobblies,” is a revolutionary labor organization founded in 1905, drawing inspiration from Marxist principles. They advocate for worker control of the means of production and oppose capitalism through direct action, rather than political means.
Knapp has defended the compensation Urban Ore offers employees, firing back in the comments section of this 2023 Berkeleyside piece. According to Knapp, in addition to a base wage, employees also receive income and profit sharing, with income sharing adding around $9 to their hourly wage rate and profit sharing doled out twice a year.
Since unionization, Urban Ore workers allege that the company has engaged in unfair labor practices, including canceling and delaying bargaining sessions, refusing to provide necessary information for negotiations, and appointing a lead negotiator without sufficient authority to reach agreements.
2025 – Union Votes to Authorize Strike
On March 8, The Urban Ore Workers’ union voted to authorize a strike aiming to push ownership to engage in “good-faith negotiations” after what they claim are nearly two years of stalled bargaining.
“Our employer’s refusal to bargain in good faith has made it clear that they do not respect the value of our labor; they’ve even told us to look for other jobs if we want to better our pay and working conditions,” said Benno Giammarinaro works in the Receiving Department. “But we know that our work is necessary for Urban Ore to operate. We are prepared to stay on the picket line until the owners recognize that they rely on our labor and agree to a fair contract.”
On Saturday, an estimated 100 workers and supporters gathered to support the striking workers. “What’s disgusting? Union-Busting!” they chanted, taking turns with a megaphone while speaking from the bed of a parked truck. They held signs discouraging people from crossing the picket line.
The union has also announced that it will launch a crowdfunding campaign, asking those sympathetic to their cause to help financially support the workers participating in the walkout.
Urban Ore has not publicly responded to the strike and did not respond to our inquiry.
3/24 Updates: Berkeleyside reporter Iris Kwok has provided additional details about the strike including that establishing an employee cooperative has been “put on the backburner” by the owners due to the “attitude and hostility” they’ve experienced.
Co-owner Dan Knapp estimated that the weekend work stoppage had caused them to lose out on around $18,000 in revenue and that an extended strike could lead to layoffs.
3/25 Update: The reference to organizer Benno Giammarinaro being a UC Berkeley PhD Student has been removed as he is no longer enrolled as a student.
Spoiler Alert: Owners opt to cash out and sell land to an apartment developer and all the precious Gen-Z workers indoctrinated by UCB with fuchsia hair lose their minimum wage level skilled jobs.
What’s crazy is to think that you could believe such a result would be just rather than the morally reprehensible and avoidable tragedy it would be. All workers have a right to advocate for their own interests and to believe otherwise is un-American.
A barely profitable enterprise run by known hippies gets put out of business by workers who demand more. In the process, everyone realizes how difficult it is to run a profitable business and how easy it is to complain. End scene.
barely profitable? urban ore just had their most profitable year to date and still refuses to pay a living wage. it’s worker run and those people deserve to make more than a base rate of $13 an hour for fucks sake.
Incorrect. There has been zero profit since they unionized in 2023, loudly due to lower sales (after their reputation suffered) and legal fees.
Workers earned an average of $21.50/hour plus full health benefits. Some of them said this is the first or best job they’ve had, and yet 7 fools are picketing. Wtf?
It was literally 90% white, college-educated DSA members.
Go protest Tesla or Target and leave small, family run businesses alone!
small family run business? the owners are just married? urban ore is not a small business in terms of revenue or number of employees. and their employees deserve a living wage! shame on you
One location, less than 50 employees, run by an elderly married couple.
Yeah, they’re a HUGE corporation bruh!
Ask yourself how your simple little mind became so easily indoctrinated!
Real.
Workers deserve a living wage and they deserve the right to fight for it regardless of who signs their paycheck.
Urban Ore seems completely an inappropriate target
Target? Did you read the article? It’s the workers who are on strike not the general public protesting.
Yeah, but the IWW targets tiny progressive businesses. It’s gross.