Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Bon Appetit Management Company Build
Innovative New Model for Fair Labor Standards in Florida's Tomato Fields
Bon Appetit Management Company becomes the first food service company to
establish game-changing fair labor requirements that integrate: minimum fair
wage, worker empowerment stipulations, and incentives to growers who exceed
minimum requirements of the agreement.
PALO ALTO, Calif. and IMMOKALEE, Fla., April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- A Florida
tomato picker, Mariano Lucas was forced to work without pay and was regularly
beaten and chained inside a box truck at night by a family of farm bosses who
held him and a dozen other workers captive.
(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090428/SF07319)
You might think this nightmarish story took place in some dark period of
American history. Unbelievably, it's a reality today, in the vast tomato
fields of south Florida. In December 2008, Lucas' captors were sentenced to 12
years in prison for "enslaving and brutalizing migrant workers." At their
sentencing, Mariano stood before his former captors and told the judge,
"Bosses should not beat up the people who work with them."
Nobody knows exactly how many people are enslaved in Florida, but federal
civil rights officials have prosecuted seven slavery operations involving over
1,000 workers in Florida's fields since 1997. One federal prosecutor called
Florida "ground zero for modern-day slavery."
In an effort to address the systemic exploitation of Florida's farmworkers,
Bon Appetit Management Company, a socially responsible food service company
operating 400 university and corporate cafes in 29 states, and The Coalition
of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a farmworker organization spearheading the fight
for more humane farm labor standards in Florida, have forged a new agreement
that frames acceptable working conditions and enforces those conditions with a
strict code of conduct.
Under this plan, which goes beyond the CIW's agreements with other food
industry companies, tomatoes will cease to be an undifferentiated commodity
crop and growers who treat their workers more fairly will be rewarded with
more business. Additionally, Bon Appetit is sending a strong message to
growers that the company is prepared to cease buying tomatoes altogether if
the growers don't follow the code of conduct adopted by the company.
Employing both the carrot (better pay for growers) and the stick
(enforceability), Bon Appetit and the CIW aim to drive lasting changes that
will help agricultural workers achieve the level of dignity afforded all
American workers while providing sustainable competitive advantages for
growers.
"America's agricultural workers do jobs that are far more difficult and
dangerous than the average retail or restaurant worker, yet these jobs are
critical to our entire food chain. When I met with workers in the fields and
saw first-hand how difficult their lives are, I knew that I could not, in good
conscience, contribute to such a system. We buy almost 5 million pounds of
tomatoes a year. I decided to use that power to make a real difference in the
supply chain," said Fedele Bauccio, CEO of Bon Appetit Management Company.
"The future of a fairer tomato industry is being written today, and this
agreement is a rough draft. It's not a final product, and it's not meant to
be. But it is a great first cut at building a relationship between farmworkers
and their employers based on a genuine appreciation for the value of
farmworkers' labor - something that has been absent since the birth of the
agricultural industry in Florida - and driven by a vision of universal human
rights. We see this as a golden opportunity for Florida's smaller,
family-scale farmers to gain access to a market that has traditionally been
beyond their reach, and to help elevate Florida's agricultural industry in the
process," said Gerardo Reyes of the CIW.
The agreement includes guarantees of real improvements in wages and working
conditions, and provides preferential purchasing incentives for growers who
are willing to raise the bar yet further. Highlights of the agreement
include:
-- A "Minimum Fair Wage" - Workers will be paid a wage premium
that reflects the unique rigors and uncertainty of farm labor.
-- An end to traditional forms of wage abuse - Through standards
requiring
growers to implement time clocks and to reconcile wages paid with
pounds
harvested, workers will be paid for every hour worked and every pound
picked.
-- Worker empowerment - Workers will be informed of their rights through
a
system jointly developed by the growers and the CIW. Growers will also
collaborate with the CIW and Bon Appetit to implement and enforce a
process for workers to pursue complaints without fear of retribution.
-- Worker safety - A worker-controlled health and safety committee will
give farmworkers a voice in addressing potentially dangerous working
conditions, including pesticide, heat, and machinery issues.
-- Third-party monitoring - Growers will permit third-party monitoring
that
includes worker participation.
"We congratulate Bon Appetit Management Company for their support of the
Coalition of Immokalee Workers to bring humane treatment to those that bring
the food to our table. This historic partnership between the food industry and
farmworkers can end the slavery and slave-like conditions that farmworkers are
subjected to in Florida and other states. Si Se Puede!" Dolores Huerta,
President of the Dolores Huerta Foundation for Community Organizing and
Co-Founder of the United Farm Workers."
About the Coalition of Immokalee Workers:
The CIW (http://www.ciw-online.org) is a community-based farmworker
organization headquartered in Immokalee, Florida, with over 4,000 members.
The CIW seeks modern working conditions for farmworkers and promotes their
fair treatment in accordance with national and international labor standards.
Among its accomplishments, the CIW has aided in the prosecution by the
Department of Justice of six slavery operations and the liberation of well
over 1,000 workers. The CIW uses creative methods to educate consumers about
human rights abuses in the U.S. agriculture industry, the need for corporate
social responsibility, and how consumers can help workers realize their social
change goals. The CIW's Campaign for Fair Food has won unprecedented support
for fundamental farm labor reforms from retail food industry leaders, with the
goal of enlisting the market power of those companies to demand more humane
labor standards from their Florida tomato suppliers.
About Bon Appetit Management Company:
Bon Appetit Management Company (www.bamco.com) is an onsite restaurant company
offering full food service management to corporations, universities and
specialty venues. Bon Appetit is committed to sourcing sustainable, local
foods for all cafes throughout the country. A pioneer in environmentally sound
sourcing policies, Bon Appetit has developed programs addressing local
purchasing, the overuse of antibiotics, sustainable seafood, cage-free eggs,
and most recently, the connection between food and climate change. The company
has received numerous awards for its work from organizations like Seafood
Choices Alliance, The Humane Society of the United States, and Food Alliance.
Based in Palo Alto, CA, Bon Appetit has more than 400 cafes in 29 states,
including eBay, American University and the Getty Center.
SOURCE Bon Appetit Management Company; Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Haven Bourque, +1-415-777-1170, ext. 303, or +1-415-505-3473,
Haven@StrausCom.com, or Vanessa Barrington, +1-415-777-1170, ext. 313, or
+1-415-505-0116, Vanessa@StrausCom.com, both for Bon Appetit Management
Company; or Gerardo Reyes Chavez, +1-239-657-8311, Gerardo@Ciw-online.org, or
Greg Asbed, +1-239-986-2364, Greg@Ciw-online.org, both for Coalition of
Immokalee Workers
