Breakthrough for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in their fight for a penny more per pound

By Zoe Brent

Things are looking up in Immokalee, Florida this week. The hard won penny per pound raise for tomato farm workers that corporate food giants including Taco Bell, McDonalds and Burger King have agreed to pay has yet to reach any workers—until now. One of Florida’s four largest tomato growers, East Coast Growers and Packers, has agreed to pass the raise on to its workers. While this may seem like a simple thing, it is an important breakthrough. The major cooperative of industrial tomato growers in Florida has been a remarkably uncooperative middleman throughout this process. Even though the organizing efforts of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) succeeded in convincing some of the largest buyers to fork over more money, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange has been standing in the way, threatening its member farms with serious fines if they comply and pass the increase on to workers.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) “is a community-based organization of mainly Latino, Mayan Indian and Haitian immigrants working in low-wage jobs throughout Florida.” They began organizing in 1993 and have earned recognition for their campaign against slavery and more recently their fight for better wages for tomato pickers. They realized that in order to change labor conditions they would have to follow the money, so they bypassed the growers who are under extreme pressure from customers to keep prices down, and went straight to the big corporate food buyers with the demand that they pay more for their tomatoes. While a penny per pound may not seem like much, it will increase workers’ wages by 64%! Indeed it was a great victory when the CIW organized a boycott and the resulting public pressure convinced Taco Bell to reluctantly agree, soon followed by MacDonalds and Burger King. However the reality of the food supply chain is not as simple as the buyer giving each farm worker 64% more money. The Florida Growers Exchange seriously rained on the workers’ victory parade when they blocked their wage increase by establishing oppressive penalties for member farms for passing the raise on to tomato pickers. The extra penny per pound has been sitting in escrow accounts unable to reach those who fought for it.

So when Batista Madonia Jr., sales manager for the family-owned company, East Coast Growers and Packers announced, 'I would rather be unpopular with my competition and do the right thing . . . I believe when you do the right thing for your worker, it gives you a better worker and a better company,' it was a very important turn around. East Coast Growers and Packers’ decision may even help their sales, now that the companies who signed onto the penny per pound increase will most likely send their business where they know the raise will reach farm workers. Some predict this shake up will inspire other growers to buck the Florida Growers Exchange system as well. Indeed, things are looking up for tomato pickers in Florida.

While this victory is certainly cause for celebration, it is also a sobering reminder of the work ahead. Beyond tomatoes, outside the borders of Florida, not only on farms, but also in factories and fast food restaurants, the fight against labor injustice throughout the entire food supply chain is far from over. Let’s generate momentum from this victory as we continue the struggle for a truly sustainable food system, in which workers are treated fairly, with respect and dignity.