February 9, 2010
I
t's here!...
Check out the brand new Farmworker Freedom March website!
Head over to the brand-spanking new Farmworker Freedom March website today to see all the events, background, materials, and more planned for this March and April, as the Campaign for Fair Food sets out to take the movement to end modern-day slavery to the hometown of Publix!
Here's just a taste of what you'll find there:
Details:
Farmworker Freedom March
* Three-day march of farmworkers and allies
* April 16-18, from Tampa to Lakeland (home of Publix supermarkets)
* Route details and logistics to be announced soonModern-day Slavery Museum
* A mobile educational vehicle in the form of a box-truck outfitted as a replica of the trucks involved in the latest slavery prosecution and accompanied by educational displays on modern-day slavery in Florida, its roots, the reasons it continues today, and its solutions.The exhibits will be developed in consultation with leading academic authorities on slavery and labor history in Florida and will be a rigorous examination of the continuous history of slavery in Florida from its settlement to the current day.
Background:
Slavery yesterday and today: Modern-day slavery in Florida agriculture cannot be understood in a vacuum. It is not separate from the past, rather its roots extend deep in the state's history. While the phenomenon of forced labor has taken many forms over the past four centuries in Florida agriculture, the industry has never been entirely free of the scourge of slavery.
Though the extent of slavery in Florida agriculture has diminished over the centuries, one thing has remained constant: farmworkers have always been, and remain today, the state's poorest, least powerful workers. If we are to abolish slavery once and for all in Florida agriculture, we must pull it up from the roots by addressing farmworker poverty and powerlessness....
Continue reading this post at the Farmworker Freedom March website! >>
February 3, 2010
To young people, their parents, and all their teachers:
Farmworkers across the country pick the fruits and vegetables we need to stay healthy. And though they help put food on millions of tables across the country, most farmworkers don't earn enough to support their own families, and many times they are treated unfairly at work in the fields. Through the Campaign for Fair Food, farmworkers and their supporters across the country are working together to create a more just food system in which farmworkers are respected and treated fairly.
To highlight the connection between young people and farmworkers, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers announces the first-ever Campaign for Fair Food drawing contest! To enter, use your imagination to draw what “Fair Food” means to you, and show how you can work together with farmworkers to make a fairer world for the people who pick our fruits and vegetables.
Farmworkers in Immokalee will select one winner from each of four age groups:
- Pre-K - 2nd grade
- 3rd grade - 5th grade
- 6th grade - 8th grade
- High School
Winners' drawings will be featured on the front of new Campaign for Fair Food postcards, which will be distributed around the country! Each winner will also receive a framed copy of their drawing signed by members of the Immokalee farmworker community.
Submissions will be accepted from now until April 1, 2010. Drawings may be created in any medium: crayon, colored pencil, marker, etc. There is no size requirement.
A curriculum with ideas to incorporate information about farmworkers and the Campaign for Fair Food into lesson plans is available. To request a curriculum, a DVD and other materials for use with the curriculum, or if you have any questions, contact us at: drawingcontest@ciw-online.org.
Click here for a pdf of the above announcement.
Click here for photo galleries from the fields that might serve for a little inspiration!
February 1, 2010
Students marching from Miami to Washington for immigrant rights add Publix to their route!
Fifty years ago today in Greensboro, North Carolina, a small group of students began a peaceful protest that catapulted the cruel injustice of racial segregation into national focus. Their sit-in at a Woolsworth lunch counter inspired countless others across the country to likewise take a stand against separate and unequal facilities for black Americans.
The bravery and resolve of these students made evident that indeed, in the words of the people's historian and activist Howard Zinn, who sadly passed on last week, “small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.”
Today we are reminded of the courage and resolve of these students in the example of the Trail of Dreams – an inspiring group of Miami youth that on January 1st initiated a march to Washington D.C. in order to draw attention to injustices suffered by immigrants in the United States. As part of their journey by foot to the nation’s capital, they are delivering letters in support of the CIW’s campaign to Publix managers along the way. The picture above is from a visit to a Publix store outside of Mt. Dora, Florida, where the marchers met with the manager and gave her a copy of the Publix manager's letter.
Publix can expect to hear from more and more concerned consumers as the CIW’s own march for justice, the Farmworker Freedom March, swiftly approaches. If you have not done so already, mark you calendar to join us for the march from Tampa to Lakeland (home to Publix) on April 16-18th!
January 27, 2010
Publix "Neighborhood Grocer" image takes yet another hit...
News-Press report exposes Publix use of foreign students on temporary work visas (part-time, no benefits) to fill hundreds of local jobs in the face of 14% unemployment!
Editorial: Publix claim they can't find local workers to fill jobs "insulting nonsense"
It's been a rough few months for Publix and its public relations department.
First, there was the revelation in this space that Publix continues to purchase tomatoes from the very Immokalee-based growers tainted by the most recent slavery prosecution. The best answer Publix could muster for that particular disgrace was this:
"... the chain does purchase tomatoes from the two farms but pays a fair market price." ("Farmworkers protest supermarket tomatoes," 11/24/09)
Then, there was the story about Publix -- Florida's richest privately-held corporation -- looking for taxpayers to foot the bill for their rent at a downtown Ft. Myers location. The fact that Publix, an economic powerhouse, would receive taxpayer-subsidized rent, at the rate of $50,000 per month, was too much for some city council representatives, one of whom called the deal "offensive." It appears that deal, ultimately, didn't survive public scrutiny and was killed.
Now comes this:
"At a time when Lee County’s unemployment rate is almost 14 percent and about 38,000 residents are jobless, Publix is paying people from South America to work at some of its Southwest Florida supermarkets. For the last three years, Publix has hired hundreds of Peruvians and Brazilians for its stores in south Fort Myers and Naples during tourist season because the company says it can’t find locals to fill those spots... ... 'Are you kidding?' asked Rita Hursell. The 46-year-old nurse’s aide, who’s been out of work since 2007, is on food stamps and lives with her parents in Lehigh Acres. Hursell, who just completed a computer class at the Career and Service Center in Fort Myers, said she’d be happy to work at Publix even on a part-time, temporary basis. 'I wouldn’t mind at all,' she said." |
You can find the entire article here.
Here's what the News-Press editorial board had to say about this latest revelation:
"It's simply not acceptable for Southwest Florida employers to import foreign workers when the local unemployment rate is almost 14 percent. That's especially so when they are using a cultural exchange program to get those workers visas without having to show that Americans won't take the jobs. Publix and some other employers claim they can't find Americans to do the low-paid, temporary jobs at issue. Since 2008, when unemployment was already 6 percent, Publix has hired hundreds of Peruvians and Brazilians for its stores in south Fort Myers and Naples in the tourist season, when it says it's hard to find locals for the temporary jobs. What we are hearing from some of the county's 38,000 jobless and the employment specialists who try to help them is that this is insulting nonsense. We agree." |
Thus far, the PR department has pledged to "revisit (the program) for 2011."
Stay tuned, because from the sound of things, the 38,000 unemployed workers in Lee County -- and tens of thousands more concerned consumers -- may not be willing to wait that long for Publix to correct its course. In the words of one commenter on the News-Press story, "Let them 'reconsider their hiring policy'. I'm 'reconsidering my patronage policy'."
January 11, 2010
UPDATE 1/12/10: To check out yesterday's hour-long BBC program live from Immokalee on modern-day slavery, click here!
"Immokalee slavery topic of the day on global radio," (Ft. Myers News Press)
BBC's "World Have Your Say" to broadcast live from Immokalee, 1:00 pm (EST), and online at Public Radio's WGCU or BBC Radio
On the heels of President Obama's proclamation designating January "National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month," the BBC program with a global audience, "World Have Your Say," is coming to Immokalee to cast its own considerable light on modern-day slavery. Here's a one-minute video preview of today's show from Ros Atkins, the host of "World Have Your Say":
And from the Ft. Myers News-Press:
"... Each week, the audience-driven show 'World Have Your Say' reaches about 170 million listeners who have a global conversation with calls, e-mails, text messages and blogs. The BBC has partnered with public radio station WGCU-FM, which is doing a monthlong multimedia series: 'Immokalee: The Challenge. The Hope.' In recent years, Immokalee has been in the media spotlight not for being a historic farming-town-turned-gaming hot-spot, but for being branded ground zero for modern-day slavery by federal officials including U.S. attorney Douglas Molloy, who will be one of the show’s guests. Since 1997, seven agricultural slavery operations involving more than 1,000 workers have been federally prosecuted in Florida. Last January, members of the Navarrete family were sentenced in what Molloy called one of the region’s 'biggest, ugliest slavery cases ever.' After luring Mexican and Guatemalan men with promises of work, the family took their papers, gave them fake IDs and held them in servitude — locking them in trucks at night, where they had to urinate and defecate in corners and tying — chaining or beating them if they tried to leave. The Navarretes didn’t pay their captives for their work harvesting tomatoes on Immokalee farms, including two owned by some of the state’s biggest growers: Six Ls and Pacific. 'I think the audience will find it incredible that this happens in America,' said Heba Ayoub, the show’s producer. 'And I think it will resonate with a lot of people all over the world.' |
For now, we'll give the CIW's Laura Germino the last word on today's radio program. You'll have to tune in today at 1:00 if you want to hear more:
"... Coalition of Immokalee Workers member Laura Germino, who’ll also be a guest, agrees. The coalition is an advocacy group. 'Consumers from Dubai to Paris to Buenos Aires will learn workers are held in forced labor in U.S. fields (and) that in the 21st century, slavery remains woven into the fabric of consumers’ daily lives. The tomatoes in their sandwiches, for example, may have been picked by people in involuntary servitude — captive workers held against their will through threats or violence.' Germino also welcomes the chance to tell listeners how they can help. 'We’ve found consumers from all walks of life have something in common: revulsion against slavery and no interest in being part of that crime,' she said." |
See you on the radio!
December 11, 2009
And in other news...
Chipotle CEO Steve Ells challenged to debate on merits of Campaign for Fair Food by Kellogg Food and Society Fellow!
Will the promoter of "Food with Integrity" answer the call?
Plus, check out an exclusive video (below) from Sunday's huge March for Farmworker Justice!
Laying down a virtual gauntlet before Chipotle CEO Steve Ells, Kellogg Food and Society Fellow Sean Sellers has launched a public challenge -- in earnest -- to debate the merits of the Campaign for Fair Food with the man who invented the slogan "Food with Integrity" for his 900-restaurant burrito chain. Posting on the widely-read sustainable food/ environmental blog grist.org ("Steve Ells, will you accept the 'Chipotle Challenge'?," 12/9/09), Sellers writes:
“'Of course I’m not in favor of slavery! But signing an agreement [with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers] does not actually change those conditions for farmworkers,' Steve Ells, CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill, gibed in front of an audience of 250 at the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Wharton School of Business on November 19. 'I mean, they just don’t see the bigger picture,' he continued. 'To change the fast-food paradigm is huge. We’re trying to do the right thing.' Ells’ defensive posture came in immediate response to a question posed by Marina Saenz-Luna, a staff member of Just Harvest USA, who works closely with the Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Since 2006, the grassroots farmworker organization has petitioned Chipotle – a leading fast-casual restaurant chain specializing in gourmet burritos – to enter into an agreement to improve wages and working conditions for Florida tomato pickers. Four years later, farmworkers’ and consumers’ stomachs have soured in light of Chipotle’s persistent hostility towards the workers’ organization... ... It’s easy to shut down debate and mock earnest criticism when one stands alone at the podium and holds the microphone. But a closer reading of the recent exchange between Ells and Saenz-Luna belies a festering insecurity within Ells and his company over its chosen course of action. So here’s my challenge: Let’s have a real debate, Mr. Ells, at any public forum of your choosing. After all, if you can’t back up your position, then integrity demands that you change it." |
He wraps up the post with a clarification: This is not a stunt. It's a real challenge:
"... The Chipotle Challenge Which brings us back to Steve Ells’ quotation at the top of this story: 'But signing an agreement [with the CIW] does not actually change those conditions for farmworkers.' Like most everything else Ells has said about the CIW and the Campaign for Fair Food, this is entirely backwards, and so painfully wrong. But this time, his misinformation will not go unchallenged. Mr. Ells, consider this my formal challenge to a public debate on the merits of the Campaign for Fair Food. Have the conviction of your beliefs and join me for a debate – you name the time and place, anytime, anywhere. The clock is ticking." |
You can read the entire Chipotle Challenge post here.
And for one last look at the exciting Publix protest and march in Lakeland last Sunday, click play on the video below:
December 8, 2009
More from Sunday's March for Farmworker Justice!
Check out the photo report and all the latest press...
Don't miss the CIW photo report -- with analysis and pictures you won't find anywhere else -- from the biggest Publix protest of the year this past weekend in Lakeland. You can find the report here.
The Ft. Myers News-Press also weighed in this morning with a follow-up story on Sunday's big action in an article entitled, "Coalition of Immokalee Workers pay Publix a visit." Here's an excerpt:
"The peaceful demonstration drew workers and supporters from around the state as well as clergy of many faiths. One of those was retired United Church of Christ minister Jim Boler of Fort Myers. 'I was especially moved by what the high school students from Immokalee had to say,' Boler said. 'One girl talked about what it's like to live in a farmworker family, seeing Publix ads celebrating Thanksgiving but knowing that for her family, if there's not work that week, they can't afford food.'" read more |
And the Palm Beach Post joined the fray as well, with an op/ed by Dan Moffett calling on Publix to stop fighting progress and bring its considerable purchasing power to bear on improving farm labor conditions in its home state, entitled "Publix in the wrong aisle." After opening with a quick recital of all the accolades that have made Publix "Florida's grocery store," Mr. Moffett writes:
"The Immokalee coalition has worked with federal officials to prosecute cases against growers who have held foreign workers captive. The coalition has collected some honors of its own in recent years, from human rights groups, including the Robert F. Kennedy Justice Center. Everything Floridians have come to know about Publix suggests that the company should be participating in the farmworkers' initiative. Frankly, you'd expect Publix to be leading it." read more |
And last but definitely not least, Tampa's community radio station WMNF did a remarkably good piece, getting great interviews with several march participants, including 93-yr old human rights activist Stetson Kennedy, who started his career in the 1930's visiting labor camps throughout Florida and reporting on the slavery -- yes, slavery -- he found there:
"When we passed the Civil Rights Act in '64, I told myself that I was going to move on to something else, that everything was fixed. But of course it was not fixed. And so I'm still here this much later. You might say this is where I came in." listen |
December 7, 2006
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| Photo by Cindy Skop, Lakeland Ledger. You can find a gallery of great pics from yesterday's action at the Ledger website by clicking here. |
500+ march, rally
in Lakeland, tell Publix: "There is no 'fair market price' for slavery!"
In a spectacular declaration of alliance for a more humane food industry, over 500 farmworkers and their consumer allies traveled to Publix's hometown of Lakeland, Florida, yesterday, with a simple, unequivocal message for Florida's supermarket giant: We will hold you accountable for the human rights abuses of your suppliers.
The loud, colorful, and joyous action lasted nearly five hours -- moving from protest to march to rally -- and a full report will be coming soon. But in the meantime, we give you these windows on the day's events:
- "Hundreds of Farm Workers Protest Working Conditions" (Lakeland Ledger, 12/07/09)
- Lakeland Ledger photo gallery (by photographer Cindy Skop, a must-see!)
- A video collage of photos from yesterday's action, with a soundtrack of son jarocho music, by fair food photographer extraordinare, JJ Tiziou, here below (just click on the arrow):
"There's no question that this is the greatest victory for farmworkers since Cesar Chavez in the 1970s." Eric Schlosser, author of "Fast Food Nation" (Ft. Myers News-Press, "Tomato workers win new pay deal" 9/26/09)
"This is a huge victory." Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis (remarks at announcement ceremony 9/25/09)
Sec. of Labor Solis congratulates the CIW's Oscar Otzoy at Friday's announcement ceremony
CIW, Compass Group, East Coast announce "sweeping changes to benefit tomato harvesters"
at press conference in nation's capital!
Update: The Nation, "A Compass for Fair Food," (9/27/09): "The vision that the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has pursued and is beginning to see come to fruition is an inspiring one, and a model for the nation." read more here
Click here for the exclusive photo report!
See the Washington Post report, "Labor deal will mean boost for farmworker wages"
See the Ft. Myers News Press story, "Tomato workers win new pay deal"
Click here for the press release.
Here's a round-up of statements on the announcement:
Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis: "I would like to congratulate the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. For the first time, a major Florida producer, East Coast Growers and Packers, represented here, has implemented the CIW's Fair Food program. This is a huge victory." Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack: "I commend the Compass Group and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers for taking meaningful steps to ensure that these workers are paid a decent wage and are treated fairly. This agreement not only represents an important step forward for tomato workers in Florida, it is an expression of the essential value of farm workers to our agricultural sector as a whole." see the statement here on the USDA website Senator Bernie Sanders: "Today marks the beginning of the end of the harvest of shame that has existed for far too long in Florida's tomato fields. I applaud the tireless efforts of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers toward improving the wages and working conditions of tomato workers. I also commend the Compass Group for agreeing to this important initiative. The time has come for all tomato growers to participate in the penny per pound program and ensure that no tomato worker lives in abject poverty." Steve Sweeney, president and CEO of Chartwells (an operating company of Compass Group): “Compass Group purchases a lot of tomatoes. It is our intent that this agreement brings immediate financial benefit to the harvesters, gives our suppliers the opportunity to partner with us to change the way the industry does business, and provides a platform to educate our customers on the plight of agricultural workers in Florida." Lucas Benitez of the CIW: "The future of Florida agriculture is contained within this agreement today. It is a future founded on mutual respect and mutual benefit, a future of common purpose among farmworkers, growers, retail food leaders, and consumers. In short, it is a future of social responsibility. We look forward to working with East Coast, Compass, and the other companies that have signed Fair Food agreements to develop the rules and rigorous monitoring systems necessary to make that future a reality this coming season." |
