Between Governor Crist’s continued silence on farmworker slavery and the holidays, a number of great stories on the Campaign for Fair Food slipped through the cracks. Here’s a round-up of some of the stories we missed over a busy past couple of weeks:
- “Shameful exploitation,” Bill Maxwell, St. Petersburg Times (12/14/08):
“… Written in 1938, when U.S. farmworkers were mostly black and racism was more blatant, the Fair Labor Standards Act excluded field hands. Our current labor laws, with remnants of our old racism, still leave farm workers unprotected. They do not have the right to bargain collectively, they have no legal guarantee of overtime pay and they can be fired at the whim of the boss….” read more
- “This has incredible importance for our movement,” Democracy Now
(12/10/08) - “Their energy brings change to Tampa Bay area,” St. Petersburg Times (12/21/08)
- “Agriculture spokesman thinks a little bit of slavery isn’t a big deal,” Miami New Times (12/19/08):
“… McElroy says he was misrepresented, but the guy is a professional spokesman. You should know the power of your words, it’s what you get paid for…” read more
- “Justice in the tomato fields,” AFL-CIO blog (12/8/08)