Back-to-Work Inspiration from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Here’s a little story about an inspiring group of workers to help jumpstart your week after the long Labor Day weekend.

Last week I spoke with folks from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) – an awe-inspiring group making extraordinary progress on behalf of tomato pickers in Florida. Here is what I learned:

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) have brought together 11 of the major food retailers that buy tomatoes to agree that they will only buy from growers who sign a Fair Food Code of Conduct that includes complying with health & safety, wage and hour, sexual harassment and other labor and employment laws, and in many cases that they will adhere to standards beyond what the law requires. This put pressure on the growers to sign the Fair Food Agreement, and in 2010, 90% of Florida’s tomato growers joined the program. Participating tomato growers show a video to tomato pickers when they are hired that explains their rights under the agreement, and workers can call a 24-hour complaint hotline when their rights are violated!

Three hundred complaints have been resolved through calls to the hotline, which is staffed by a third party auditing body called the Fair Food Standards Council. If violations occur and the growers don’t take corrective action, the agreement requires buyers like Taco Bell or Whole Foods to stop buying from the grower until corrective action is achieved. The second major part of the Fair Food Agreements is a penny per pound increase in what the retailers pay the growers for the tomatoes, which then is passed on to farmworkers as a wage increase. To date, $10 million dollars has been paid into the Program through the penny per pound premium.

How cool is that?

The CIW’s incredible success at holding businesses to fairer standards has been celebrated far and wide. As we return to work this Tuesday after Labor Day, it’s worth not only celebrating the CIW’s successes, but also thinking about how this model of change can be used to raise standards in other industries and as another means of achieving goals like fair pay; fair work schedules; affordable and accessible child care; and workplaces free from discrimination. Immokalee workers – keep on fighting the good fight! And thanks for the inspiration.