Thursday, April 21, 2011

ORGANIZING For Collective Bargaining Rights, Is How!

How the Florida Tomato Industry Went from Being One of the Most Repressive Employers to the Most Progressive?


Last November, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, a cooperative of agribusinesses that grow the vast majority of Florida tomatoes, signed the Fair Food agreement with the CIW. The CIW had been working since 1993 to improve the lot of farm workers. With a few pen strokes, the Florida tomato industry went from being one of the most repressive employers in the country (nine cases involving abject slavery in Florida fields have been prosecuted in the past 15 years) to being on the road to becoming the most progressive groups in the fruit and vegetable industry.
Just two years ago, it nearly came to war:

No comments: