FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Gerardo Reyes, 239-503-0950
Julia Perkins, 239-986-0891
Hundreds of Farmworkers and Allies to “Walk for Farmworker Justice”; Call on Publix to Join Solution to Human Rights Crisis in Florida’s Tomato Fields
March and Rally Near Publix Corporate Headquarters in Lakeland, FL, to Signal Intensification
of Farmworkers’ Campaign for Fair Wages and Safe Working Conditions
IMMOKALEE, FL – Busloads of farmworkers from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) – an internationally-recognized human rights organization based in Immokalee, FL – and hundreds of allies from across the state will converge this Sunday in Lakeland to call attention to Publix’s refusal to support a growing partnership among farmworkers, Florida tomato growers, and retail food giants aimed at ending decades of farm labor abuse in Florida.
The CIW and its supporters began urging Publix, Florida’s largest privately held corporation, to enter into an agreement to improve wages and working conditions for tomato pickers in its supply chain in 2007. Similar agreements have already been reached between the CIW and leading food retailers, including McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, Yum Brands, Compass Group, and Publix competitor Whole Foods. The agreements require those companies to demand more humane labor standards from their Florida tomato suppliers (including a zero tolerance policy for slavery), to pay a price premium for more fairly produced tomatoes, and to shift purchases to growers who meet those higher standards.
On Tuesday, the CIW and Verité – a non-governmental organization that promotes and monitors fair labor practices across the globe – announced their partnership to implement and monitor the existing CIW agreements. East Coast Growers and Packers, along with specialty growers Alderman Farms and Lady Moon Farms, have shown their early support for this effort by agreeing to pass along the pay premium to their tomato harvesters, and to abide by a code of conduct under which workers have a voice and slavery is not tolerated.
“Publix says it ‘won’t get involved in a labor dispute,’ but I want to make one thing perfectly clear: there is no labor dispute,” explained Gerardo Reyes of the CIW. “In fact, it’s never been easier to support Fair Food. We are now working closely with several growers who are willing to meet the higher standards called for by our agreements, all Publix has to do is buy from those growers under the same terms as all the other food industry leaders that have come to support our campaign.”
Earlier this year, the Ft. Myers News-Press reported that farmworkers enslaved in a forced labor ring prosecuted in December 2008 were taken to work on two southwest Florida farms that supply tomatoes to Publix. Just last week, Publix confirmed that it continues to buy tomatoes from the farms tainted by the slavery prosecution. According to the St. Augustine Reporter, “Publix spokesman Dwaine Stevens… said the chain does purchase tomatoes from the two farms but pays a fair market price.”
Reyes continued, “The choice before Publix is stark: join other retail food leaders, tomato growers, and the CIW in forging a more humane agricultural industry, or continue supporting the brutal and dehumanizing status quo in Florida agriculture today.”
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What: Walk for Farmworker Justice
When: Sunday, December 6 at 2:30 pm
Where: Gather at Southgate Plaza (2515 S. Florida Ave.), march down Florida Ave. to Kryger Park (100-198 S. Massachusetts Ave.) for a rally and candlelight vigil.
About the CIW: The CIW (https://www.ciw-online.org) is a community-based farmworker organization headquartered in Immokalee, Florida, with over 4,000 members. The CIW seeks modern working conditions for farmworkers and promotes their fair treatment in accordance with national and international labor standards. Among its accomplishments, the CIW has aided in the prosecution by the Department of Justice of six slavery operations and the liberation of well over 1,000 workers. The CIW uses creative methods to educate consumers about human rights abuses in the U.S. agriculture industry, the need for corporate social responsibility, and how consumers can help workers realize their social change goals. The CIW’s Campaign for Fair Food has won unprecedented support for fundamental farm labor reforms from retail food industry leaders, with the goal of enlisting the market power of those companies to demand more humane labor standards from their Florida tomato suppliers.