Forty-nine years ago this past Thanksgiving CBS aired Edward R Murrow’s exposé on the exploitation of migrant farm works in the US. Today many of the same conditions that existed in the agricultural fields of 1960 are still in place. And the Publix supermarket chain in the South East has been very amenable to those conditions, including buying from two tomato suppliers that have been convicted for slavery.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has been fighting for farm worker justice in Florida for over 15 years. They have successfully won victories with such major companies as McDonalds, Burger King, Subways, Whole Foods, Yum Brands (Taco Bell) and others. Their main goal in these campaigns is to get the major purchasers of Florida tomatoes to pay one penny more a pound for every tomato picked and to support worker justice in the farm field. The average pay for a farm worker, if he or she manages to pick two tons of tomatoes in a day, is $54.00l. The one penny more a pound would increase their pay by $30.00 a day. The agreement with Taco Bell cost the corporation about $100,000.00 a year, this for a business that recorded $1.9 billon in revenue in 2008. This is hardly a footnote on the balance sheet, so why do other companies, like Publix, fight so hard not to participate in these agreements?
In addition to the penny a pound, these purchasers of those Florida tomatoes agree to demand that their suppliers enforce a strict code of conduct in the way the farm workers are treated in the fields. There have been no fewer than 7 cases of slavery successfully prosecuted in the State of Florida, involving over 1000 farm workers. Charley Crist, the Republican governor of Florida, said the following in response to the CIW’s efforts to fight slavery in his state: The information you provided greater expanded my understanding of the hardships the workers face while enduring this difficult employment. I have no tolerance for slavery in any form, and I am committed to eliminating this injustice anywhere in Florida. I unconditionally support the humane and civilized treatment of all employees, including those who work in Florida's agricultural industry. Any type of abuse in the workplace is unacceptable.
With this background the CIW has asked the buyers not to purchase tomatoes from packing houses that engage in slavery.
Their current campaign is with Publix, the dominant supermarket chain in the states where it does business. It took vigorous campaigns to reach agreements with Burger King and Yum Brands, but nothing compares to the opposition that Publix is undertaking. Publix is a chain of over 1000 stores in five southeastern states, with an anuanal income of $24 billon, selling themselves as a friendly store, “where shopping is a pleasure.” Publix has turned a deaf ear to the repeated calls to join the campaign for fair food and support worker justice in the fields, which was unsurprising. But they have been aggressively trying to shut down any attempt by the CIW and their allies to demonstrate in support of this cause at Publix’s stores, and on some occasions they have been successful.
On November 7, Hollywood, Florida, at the very same shopping center where a successful protest against Burger King was held two years ago, with no police interference, the police and Publix officials working their cell phones, were waiting when the CIW arrived with their local allies. Publix had one thing in mind—shut down the protest before it started. At first the police sided with Publix, but after talking it over they decided to allow the CIW to move across the street and hold their demonstration on the opposite side. Both the original and the new location were on public sidewalks.
Now, at all the planned protests promoted on the CIW website, activists are met by Publix officials trying to put pressure on the police to shut them down. Recently, in Birmingham, AL they were successful; the minute the CIW team got out of their vehicle the police informed them if they set foot on the sidewalk they would be arrested. The next day, in Columbus, GA, where the CIW was attending the SOA Watch rally at Fort Benning, a protest was called for 5pm, (after the SOA Watch rally was over) at a local Publix. Again, the police and Publix officials were there waiting. The police allowed the action to start, but once the action grew from 50 to 300 the police shut it down, threatened arrest and brought in a city bus to haul people off to jail. In the end there where over 30 police officers in attendance. As far as I know there has never been an arrest at any CIW action, however Publix keeps referring to the people who attend these actions as dangerous.
Despite these attempts by Publix the CIW and its allies have managed to pull off some very creative actions. One such action was at a Grand Opening of a new Publix on South Beach, in Miami Beach. At a quickly called action, initiated by a neophyte organizer, about 40 supporters of the CIW cause surprised Publix and its officials on opening day. When Publix called in the police they were perplexed and upset that the MBPD sided with the rights of the protesters rather than Publix. After failing to get the police department to shut the demo down, Publix tried the code enforcement department, using the level of noise the demonstration was making. The protesters were told that they could no longer use a bull horn and they had to move across the street. The level of noise only increased as everyone now joined in the various chants. In the end Publix was very happy to see us leave, only because it was a very successful protest.
Publix has also resorted to videotaping these actions and has focused on filming the children that attend these actions with their parents. It first started on the west coast of Florida. A man with a camera, unknown to local activists, first caused concern among members of the CIW when he spent a lot of time filming the children in attendance. When asked who he was, he replied “I'm just an old hippie doing a documentary about the modern protest movement.” It later turned out that he is Publix employee, Thomas McGuigan; he continues to film actions in SW Florida, and now wears a Publix button at those actions. In Columbus, Publix hired an outside company to do the filming. That act was documented by National Layer Guild legal observers [LOs]. The LOs also did their own video documentation of the event.
Publix tactics reflect the suppression of first amendment rights that local, state and national authorities have taken (see Police Escalate Attacks on First Amendment Rights, in November’s PA). The danger here is that Publix, a private company, is encouraging local police to shut down the CIW’s right to protest in front of Publix’s stores, and in some cases the police comply. Historically this is not new; throughout the history of the struggle for workers rights, the police have come in on the side of the company. However no other campaign that the CIW has engaged in has been met with such tenacity as Publix. The irony lies in the contrast between Publix’ sustainability statement (below) and their response to the CIW’s struggle for respect, humane treatment, and a penny more a pound: Sustainability means balancing the needs of humanity with the needs of the living earth. It’s meeting today’s demands without compromising what‘s essential for tomorrow. That’s why Publix got into a Green RoutineSM in 2001—long before being eco-savvy was chic. We started making smarter choices to enrich the quality of life of our associates, our customers and our planet.
Anyway you look at it the statement is hypocrisy to the real policies of Publix. Sustainability has to include those who work the fields as much as the associates who work in the stores. Whole Foods saw this and they came forward and did the right thing. Perhaps Publix would prefer that their agricultural suppliers return to the plantation system that existed in the south prior to 1865. The harvest by which Publix profits is “A Harvest of Shame”. And they’re taking the First Amendment down with it.
Edward R. Murrow ended “Harvest of Shame” by saying the only way to change the conditions that exist for migrant farm workers was for the citizens of the best fed country in the world demand that they change. I do believe that Mr. Murrow would be very proud of the work of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and their allies. For more information on the CIW go www.ciw-online.org.
