“If Publix listened to all customers…”

[hupso title=”If @Publix listened to all customers…” url=”https://ciw-online.org/blog/2015/04/nashville-customers/”]

A typical sighting of Publix executives, flanked by local police, during Fair Food rallies  (March 2015)
Publix officials, flanked by local police, at a March, 2015, Fair Food rally in Florida.

Publix rebuffs Nashville Fair Food, issues strict “No Trespassing” notice for Middle Tennessee…

Earlier this month, we shared an exciting announcement from Nashville Fair Food:  On Sunday, April 12th, our indefatigable Volunteer State allies were planning to take Publix manager letter deliveries to a whole new level with what they had dubbed the Amazing Race for Farmworker Justice!  In a strategic response to the team of Publix representatives who crisscross the southeastern United States to monitor Fair Food rallies large and small and fend off dialogue between consumers and their local Publix managers, the Nashville crew planned to visit all 30 stores in the Middle Tennessee area in a single day. 

The strategy was simple but brilliant: Publix officials may be willing to travel from corporate headquarters in Florida to Tennessee to intervene in local Fair Food actions, but they wouldn’t be able to be at all 30 locations at once like the scores of Nashvillians could, nor could they know when Fair Food teams would show up at which stores.  Playing to their local advantage, Nashville Fair Food had forged a creative game plan to out-maneuver Publix’s Florida-based protest chasers.  Finally, consumers would be able to talk to local Publix managers — Nashvillian to Nashvillian — about why they want Publix to join the award-winning Fair Food Program.

It was of course expected that Publix would respond to the Amazing Race.  However, the lengths to which the Florida-based grocery giant went in order to suppress any kind of dialogue were truly remarkable.  But rather than recount the story for you ourselves, we’ll let our irrepressible friends from Nashville Fair Food tell you about how things unfolded.  Yesterday, they posted their frank — and ultimately triumphant — report from the weekend on the Nashville Fair Food website.  Here below is an extended excerpt:

PUBLIX BANS TENNESSEE CUSTOMERS FROM SPEAKING TO MANAGERS ABOUT FAIR FOOD

Fresh off organizing a spirited delegation of nearly 100 Tennesseans to last month’s spectacular Parade and Concert for Fair Food in Florida — and frustrated by nearly five years of stubborn silence from Publix in response to the our protests and delegations — we announced the “Amazing Race for Farmworker Justice,” a day of dialogue at Middle Tennessee Publix stores. […]

[…] On Thursday and Friday (2 days before the conversations with managers were planned to occur), organizations and allies involved in Nashville Fair Food started receiving disturbing emails and letters sent by Publix’s Atlanta attorneys to our homes and workplaces. Check out the letter here:

 

We knew that Publix had been trying to prevent dialogue, but we were shocked to see letters suggesting that Publix was preparing to arrest customers who tried to speak to their store managers that day.  After seeing that Publix was sending letters to the Chiefs of Police of at least 9 Middle Tennessee municipalities, posting additional hired security at each store, and asking officers to arrest any customers who tried to talk with their manager anyway, we decided to try a new approach.

As we have learned from our Nashville elders, and reinforced in the moving film Food Chains, nonviolent action draws out the essential character of the opponent. We are seeing now that Publix is willing to treat its customers with the disrespect it has shown farmworkers for decades. To show gentle firmness in the face of hostility, we decided to call each Middle Tennessee manager in advance, inviting them to a 5 minute in-person conversation about how Publix can respect the human rights of the farmworkers in their supply chain.

The responses from managers were revealing. One store manager was diplomatic, saying:

“Anyone can come here if they want to shop, but we really can’t speak to anyone about the farmworkers.”

 Another manager was more blunt, cutting off a student on the phone:

 “If you want to talk, there is a police officer out front waiting for you. You can deliver a letter to them if you want.” […]

IMG_0837[…] In the midst of Publix’s mixed communication and scare tactics, some Publix customers and longtime Fair Food supporters decided to change plans so that they could come out for the afternoon.  Thomas Kleinert, the senior minister at Vine Street Christian Church, just a few blocks from the Belle Meade Publix store on Harding Pike, has participated in several of Nashville Fair Food’s in-person conversations with Publix managers at his neighborhood store.  When he heard about Publix’s ban on customers talking to managers, Kleinert decided to join Sunday’s action.  “It seems a little over the top,” Kleinert said. “I don’t know what would make them so nervous.  We just want to talk.”

JOIN OUR ONLINE CAMPAIGN

If Publix listened to all customers, I would have said…

IMG_0600Needless to say, we were disheartened by Publix’s harsh reaction that kept Tennesseans from genuine dialogue about their concerns for farmworkers’ rights with store managers. In spite of this response, we care too much about the Fair Food Program to be silent.  In addition to making calls and sending out a few delegations, we started a social media campaign to say to Publix, “Even if we can’t talk directly to you – person to person – our voices will be heard.” Social media can be a powerful way to share our message, especially if you get banned from private property and can’t do so in person.  Fair Food allies made signs explaining what they would have told Publix if we hadn’t been banned from dialogue. See them below! […]

[…] Publix is on the wrong side of history; at the same time that they were banning customers from this crucial dialogue, the major supermarket company Ahold (owners of Giant, Stop & Shop, and others) announced that they have begun talks with the CIW to join the Fair Food Program.  It’s time for Publix to sign the Fair Food Agreement!

Clearly, Publix’s move backfired.  The company’s extraordinary show of disdain for concerned consumers did not deter the letter bearers, but rather reinforced the Nashville community’s commitment to Fair Food.  What’s more, the company’s response exposed — once again — Publix’s stunning fear of dialoge, of simple conversation between consumers and the local people who run Publix’s 1,098 stores across the southeastern United States.

The market works from the top down.  Any market, including the food market, is a heirarchical mechanism, where the rung above is more powerful than the rung below.  That is why the Campaign for Fair Food was launched with the cry that “Taco Bell makes farmworkers poor!” — namely, that the consolidated retail food giants at the top of the food industry create a downward pressure on farmworker wages when they leverage their volume purchasing power to demand ever-lower prices from Florida tomato growers — and why the Fair Food Program’s market consequences work to require compliance with the human rights-based Fair Food Code of Conduct.  

But Publix should not fool itself.  The food market does not end at the retail food giants like Publix, Kroger, and Safeway.  Rather, at the top of the food market are hundreds of millions of consumers, and when consumers are awakened, when they tire of the one-way communication that the food corporations hope and imagine is their right to dominate, they can make their voices heard loud and clear.  

Threatening to arrest consumers who just want to talk is a great way to shake people awake.  And with that, we give the members of Nashville Fair Food the final word.