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Coalition of Immokalee Workers > Articles by: Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Help Us Build the Future of Human Rights

Posted on December 5, 2022 by Coalition of Immokalee Workers

TODAY: Donate to help build a future of dignity, fairer wages, and respect for workers' rights in the fields and beyond! As 2022 winds to a close, we want to take a moment to reflect with you on 10 incredible years of unprecedented human rights progress under the Fair Food Program, and under the broader model for human rights protections >> Read More

Part Two: Daring Investigation Reveals Horrendous Working Conditions in EFI/FTUSA Certified Farms in Mexico

Posted on December 2, 2022December 3, 2022 by Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Groundbreaking academic investigation into labor conditions on farms certified under the Equitable Food Initiative (EFI) and Fair Trade USA (FTUSA) uncovers rampant abuse, wage theft, and retaliation against farmworkers in Mexico. Anonymous farmworker on EFI: “The representatives of the EFI group are people close to [allegadas] the bosses or the foremen.” Excerpt from statement by workers at Rancho Nuevo Produce: “Rancho >> Read More

This Giving Tuesday, support expansion of the Fair Food Program!

Posted on November 29, 2022 by Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Every day, over two million farmworkers labor in U.S. fields to harvest the food we eat. Whether it is a fall feast or a New Year’s dinner party, we all rely on the back-breaking work of farmworkers, who far too often toil under perilous conditions: Working at a break-neck pace under the heat of the sun, workers are exposed to >> Read More

Part One: New Academic Article Highlights the Success of the WSR Model in Securing Dignity in the Fields

Posted on November 21, 2022 by Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Business and Human Rights Journal: “…WSR programs are better at enforcement than corporate-established initiatives, resulting in real-life improvements for workers.” “The Fair Food Program’s recent expansion to several new states and crops suggests that more companies are seeing its value.” “…the short time frames for complaint resolution in the Fair Food Program (51 per cent of cases resolved within 13 days) and >> Read More

Forced Labor, Thousands of Deaths, Ahead of World Cup in Qatar Are a Reminder that Exploitation Knows No Boundaries

Posted on November 16, 2022November 17, 2022 by Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Despite centuries of struggle to end the abhorrent practice, forced labor has evolved and survived, and remains a pillar of the global economy. Guardian (UK): "6,500 migrant workers have died in Qatar since World Cup awarded..." Associated Press: “My manager just said, ‘I don’t care what they said in Bangladesh. We are giving you this salary and nothing more. If >> Read More

BREAKING: Justice Department Announces 3 Florida Farm Bosses “Sentenced in Multi-State Racketeering Conspiracy Involving Forced Labor” of H-2A Workers

Posted on November 2, 2022November 3, 2022 by Coalition of Immokalee Workers

“These defendants exploited their victims’ vulnerabilities and immigration status, promising them access to the American dream but then turning around and confiscating their passports and threatening arrest and deportation if they did not endlessly toil away for their profit,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Using coercive, deceptive and fraudulent practices to exploit >> Read More

Fair Food Program on the Podcast playlist: CIW’s Gerardo Reyes Chavez and Greg Asbed on building a successful human rights movement…

Posted on October 28, 2022October 28, 2022 by Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Gerardo Reyes Chavez and Greg Asbed, two key, longtime leaders of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), were interviewed in separate podcasts recently about the history of the CIW, the origins of the groundbreaking Fair Food Program and Worker-driven Social Responsibility model, and the continuing struggle for human rights in corporate supply chains in the fields and beyond. CIW’s Asbed >> Read More

Neighbors helping neighbors: Immokalee farmworkers mobilize for hurricane relief in Fort Myers, Arcadia worker communities!

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Two weeks ago, the second-deadliest storm to make landfall in the U.S. this century landed in Florida — and not just anywhere in Florida, but in Southwest Florida, Immokalee's very own corner of the Sunshine State. Miraculously, Immokalee itself was fortunate this time, as Florida's largest farmworker community managed to dodge Hurricane Ian's worst blows. But by the fierce logic of >> Read More

Fort Myers: “Our entire community is wiped out”

Posted on October 3, 2022 by Coalition of Immokalee Workers

[caption id="attachment_35913" align="aligncenter" width="900"] FORT MYERS BEACH - Damaged homes and debris are shown in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, Thursday, Sept. 29, 2022, in Fort Myers Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)[/caption] Support working families affected by Hurricane Ian Dear friends, The unprecedented devastation caused by Hurricane Ian’s lethal combination of rain, wind, and record storm surge has left coastal >> Read More

The nation’s only organic vertical farm partners with the Fair Food Program!

Posted on September 27, 2022 by Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Halton Peters, Co-founder and President of Hardee Fresh: “We want to be the best steward of the environment in the agricultural industry and the best citizen in the communities in which we live and work. Participation in the Fair Food Program furthers our pursuit of our goals and is just the most recent expression of our longstanding core beliefs.” Leonel Perez, >> Read More