Editorial: “Consumers must back farmworkers”…
Cutting through the hype and spin coming from the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange on the growers’ “new social responsibility program,” the Ft. Myers News-Press published the following editorial this morning (“Consumers must back Farmworkers,” 2/19/10). It is included here in its entirety:
Confusion Alert!: And one more thing… while we’re on the subject. Some news outlets have had a harder time sifting through the hype in the FTGE’s announcement, resulting in stories like this, which reported, “In a surprise move Tuesday, the Florida Tomato Exchange agreed to pay migrant workers the extra penny per pound the Coalition of Immokalee Workers has fought for the last three years.“
Naturally, this has caused considerable confusion around the meaning of the FTGE’s decision to allow its individual members, if they so choose, to pass on the penny-per-pound. So, here’s the real story:
The FTGE is not saying its members will start paying workers one more penny per pound across the board.
They’re not even saying they’ll require buyers to pay a penny more per pound…
They’re simply saying that they’ll allow their members to pass on whatever price premium particular buyers want to pay, whether it’s a penny per pound, half a penny per pound, or less. Or nothing, which is still the case for all retail food companies that have not yet reached an agreement with the CIW, despite the FTGE’s announcement.
So for anyone who mistook this news for an announcement that the FTGE was instituting an across-the-board, penny-per-pound raise, please understand that is not the case.
Hope that clears that up. And please check back very soon for some big news from the Modern-Day Slavery Museum (soon to be in a community near you!), which has gathered some impressive support while this story was making a stir.