Coalition Wants Food Retail Industry To Protect Farmworker Rights

POSTED: 3:57 pm EST March 7, 2006

MIAMI -- Farmworker advocates and religious groups are calling on the U.S. fast-food industry to do more to ensure fair treatment for the thousands of agricultural workers who pick their tomatoes.

The Southeastern Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee Workers planned to announce Wednesday the creation of the Alliance for Fair Food. The national alliance will work to get major retail food corporations to buy from sellers that ensure laborers' wages and employment rights.

The move comes one year after the Coalition won an unprecedented commitment from Taco Bell's parent company Yum! Brands Inc. to pay more for its tomatoes -- a savings that has been passed on to the workers.

Alliance members include the RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights, the AFL-CIO, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Interfaith Action and the Student Farmworker Alliance.

"The abuse of farmworkers' fundamental human rights is a shameful part of this country's history," said Coalition co-founder Lucas Benitez. "The whole industry is responsible, not just Taco Bell, and now it's time for the entire industry to step up and make a change as Taco Bell has done to improve the quality of life for workers."

A message left for the National Restaurant Association was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Farmworkers picking tomatoes from most of Florida suppliers earn about 40 cents to 45 cents for every 32 pound bucket, nearly the same amount they earned 30 years ago. Those picking tomatoes sold to Taco Bell now earn at least $10 more per week, according to the Coalition.

Farmworkers, many of whom are illegal immigrants, receive no overtime, health insurance, sick leave or other benefits. They must be constantly on call for growers, even on days when there is no work, making it difficult to seek out additional work to make ends meet.

Florida pickers provide about 90 percent of the nation's domestic fresh winter tomatoes, according to growers. In the case of Taco Bell, the Coalition led a four-year boycott until Louisville-based YUM! Brands agreed to pay a penny more per pound of tomatoes.

Alliance members said they are not asking consumers to boycott fast-food restaurants, but they want consumers to have a better understanding of where their food comes from. They plan to target grocery and other food retail corporations down the line.

"The role of the consumer is to work together with farmworkers through this alliance to call upon retail food corporations, such as McDonald's, to address the poverty wages and exploitative working conditions in their tomato supply change," said Noelle Damico, who serves as the liaison for the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. and the Coalition.

Late November, the Coalition launched a campaign to get McDonald's to pay more for the tomatoes it uses on salads and gourmet sandwiches. The group has not called for a McDonald's boycott.

In response, the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association joined with McDonald's and several religious and nonprofit groups to create a code of conduct for monitoring and certifying that growers meet state and federal standards when it comes to farm laborers.

But the group did not consult the Coalition, which says the code does not go far enough because it doesn't support key labor demands such as a wage increase and overtime pay.