Tomato Workers Score Huge Victory

by James Parks, Sep 28, 2009

U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis congratulates the CIW’s Oscar Otzoy on the deal with Compass.

In a huge win for farm workers, one of the nation’s top food service and management companies reached an agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to improve working conditions and give a raise directly to Florida’s tomato harvesters.

The pact between Compass Group North America and the CIW calls for the company to pay an additional 1.5 cents per pound for all the tomatoes it purchases each year, with 1 cent per pound passed directly from the supplier to the workers. The agreement boosts workers’ wages from 50 cents for a 32-pound bucket to 82 cents per bucket, a 64 percent increase.

This is the first agreement where the money goes directly to the workers. Previous agreements called for the money to go into an escrow account.

“The future of Florida agriculture is contained within this agreement,” said Lucas Benitez of the CIW.

It is a future founded on mutual respect and mutual benefit, a future of common purpose among farmworkers, growers, retail food leaders, and consumers. In short, it is a future of social responsibility.

Compass Group also agreed to purchase tomatoes only from growers and suppliers willing to meet standards set out in a code of conduct contained in the agreement and to pass the pay raise on to workers. Because of its size, Compass Group’s action could have far-reaching impact for justice in the tomato fields.

Based in Charlotte, N.C., Compass Group is the nation’s leading food service and support services company with $9 billion in revenues in 2008. The company, which buys 10 million pounds of tomatoes annually, manages more than 10,000 accounts from schools to corporate offices, from hospitals to cultural centers. The agreement applies to all its operating companies.

The Compass Group deal is bearing fruit. East Coast Growers and Packers, the third-largest tomato grower in Florida, has already agreed to Compass Group’s terms.

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis praised the pact at an announcement ceremony in Washington, D.C., last week.

Doing nothing is not an option. We are facing enormous challenges, but that is no excuse to let workers’ rights fall by the wayside. Thank you for standing up for your rights…and I want to thank the business community for making workers’ rights a priority.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack agreed:

This agreement not only represents an important step forward for tomato workers in Florida, it is an expression of the essential value of farm workers to our agricultural sector as a whole.

In addition, Compass says it will assist the CIW in starting talks with growers to resolve ongoing issues concerning the working conditions on tomato farms. The Immokalee region is the heart of the Florida tomato industry, which provides 95 percent of all U.S. grown tomatoes eaten by Americans from October to June.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), a longtime champion of the Immokalee workers, said the agreement “marks the beginning of the end of the harvest of shame that has existed for far too long in Florida’s tomato fields.”

The time has come for all tomato growers to participate in the penny per pound program and ensure that no tomato worker lives in abject poverty.”

The Compass agreement also will ensure:

• Workers will be paid for every hour worked, with a system of clocking in/out to accurately record working hours.
• Workers will have the ability to voice their concerns over safety and working conditions, and report Code violations, without fear of retribution.
• Suppliers will allow education of workers as to their rights on company time and within the worksite by the CIW.
• Suppliers will permit third-party auditing for full transparency.

Compass Group is the parent company of Bon Appetit Management Co., which, in April, signed an agreement with the CIW. The group also has pacts with the Subway restaurant chain as well as Taco Bell and its corporate parent, Yum! Brands, McDonald’s, Burger King Whole Foods Market and the Chipotle Mexican Grill restaurant chain.

		Become a Fan on Facebook			Follow Us on Twitter			Subscribe to YouTube			Subscribe to Blog RSS

Print This Article | E-Mail This Article |Comments (1)