The Nation reports that the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), an farm worker advocacy organization, plans to target the US supermarket industry for reforms that it feels are necessary.
According to the story, “the coalition's focus falls squarely on the $550 billion supermarket industry. With the exception of Whole Foods, which signed an agreement with the CIW nearly two years ago, the US supermarket industry plays an active role in farmworker exploitation. Publix, Ahold, Kroger and Trader Joe's all pack a particularly heavy punch given their market power in the produce industry and all of them are refusing to address the same workplace exploitation issues which its corporate brethren have made peace with.”
The goal of the campaign is to get retailers to agree to pay a penny per pound more for tomatoes, with that money used to pay farmworkers who are said to be vastly under-compensated for their efforts.
According to the story, “the coalition's focus falls squarely on the $550 billion supermarket industry. With the exception of Whole Foods, which signed an agreement with the CIW nearly two years ago, the US supermarket industry plays an active role in farmworker exploitation. Publix, Ahold, Kroger and Trader Joe's all pack a particularly heavy punch given their market power in the produce industry and all of them are refusing to address the same workplace exploitation issues which its corporate brethren have made peace with.”
The goal of the campaign is to get retailers to agree to pay a penny per pound more for tomatoes, with that money used to pay farmworkers who are said to be vastly under-compensated for their efforts.
- KC's View:
