Farmworker justice may just be going national again this year in the United States, after years of coordinated activism, lobbying, and negotiations. For that, we have the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Fair Food Standards Council to thank, because they’re the ones who have innovated a programme to create a clear and enforceable code of conduct for employers who are interested in treating their farmworkers justly, humanely, and rightly. While the project doesn’t put an end to worker abuse in the United States, it’s a move in the right direction, with the potential to influence the larger agriculture and food service industry.
Why would employers be interested in doing something they historically haven’t placed at a high priority? Because they’re experiencing mounting pressure from members of the public, through vendors, buyers, and other customers. As people become more aware of, and concerned about, the gruesome conditions on US farms, some USians are starting to rise up in solidarity with the people who labour in the fields for them every day to produce cheap produce. The era of slipshod labour practices is far from over, but this is a huge, important, and positive step in a world where getting people to care about any aspect of work and labour might have seemed laughable just a few years ago.
Farm labour is among the most dangerous, grueling, and unpleasant jobs in the US. Farmworkers spend 10-14 hour days in the fields with limited breaks, often under direct sun—or in pouring rain and howling wind, depending on the weather conditions. Some labour in hot, stuffy greenhouses with extremely high humidity, and many have limited access to fresh water and food during their shifts, making employment-related health problems more likely. Wage theft is common, as are other abusive employment practices which are clearly banned under US law.
Undocumented immigrants represent a large percentage of the workforce, and their immigration status is held over them as a manipulative tool to make it harder for them to fight back. They’re underpaid, sexually assaulted, forced to live in substandard housing without access to toilets and kitchen areas, and constantly threatened with deportation if they dare to get vocal about their poor living conditions. Meanwhile, parent companies pocket billions on the produce they harvest, making agriculture an immensely profitable industry in the United States. Add government incentives to that, and one can see why big agribusiness is an industry many major corporations want to get in to, or invest in, with bioengineered technologies and products, farming equipment, and more.
Advocates argue that it’s possible to retain profits while still respecting workers, which was the genesis of the Fair Food Program. Under the program, participating buyers pay an additional penny and a half per pound of tomatoes harvested, and workers are entitled to higher wages, more accurate time clocks, protections from sexual assault on the job, protections from harsh weather conditions, and an orientation on the FFP’s standards and policies so they understand their rights, along with other protections. Announced and unannounced inspections are used to monitor compliance, creating an environment where growers know they will be held accountable for ensuring the health, safety, and wellbeing of their workers.
Buyers, meanwhile, have an assurance that their produce comes FFP certified. They can’t buy from other growers and retain the right to use the label in marketing campaigns and other materials, and have an incentive to remain with the FFP in the form of these certifications, which appeal to socially-conscious consumers. It’s a win for growers, workers, and buyers alike, all of whom benefit when a premium is placed on fair labour practices and humane treatment of farmworkers.
As a pilot program in Florida, the FFP has radically changed the landscape for workers, thanks in part to the participation of major corporate buyers as customers, including firms with markets across the United States. Now, the FFP and the CIW are set to roll out their model across the country, extending it not just to tomatoes but to other crops to create an exportable model for farmworker justice that will benefit strawberry pickers in California, corn handlers in the Midwest, and more.
The CIW has been tremendously active in farmworker organising across Florida, with work to make their projects accessible and useful to people living and working across the nation. Their work has paved the way to farmworker justice as well as solidarity campaigns, like working with fast food workers to get fair pay for their work. CIW’s formidable organising power is doing great work in Florida, and to see it scaled up is a great sign for farmworker justice in the United States, where regional organisers working with experienced CIW campaigners could jumpstart their campaigns and force members of the public as well as employers to rethink the way farmworkers are treated.
The FFP is, of course, only one piece of the puzzle. US retailer WalMart has gained major headlines for signing on, offering supposedly worker-friendly produce alongside its organic offerings. However, this doesn’t resolve the larger labour issues that surround the company, including accusations of exploiting domestic employees and sweatshop workers overseas, who pay a high price for the cheap garments available in the US. The availability of FFP-certified produce and related products won’t absolve the company of its complicity in worker abuse, but it could be used as leverage to create more pressure on WalMart to do the right thing by its employees.
As well all certification programmes, the FFP relies in part on its rigorous enforcement, but also on the reality that a simple certification isn’t a magic bullet. Even as it starts to roll out nationwide, organisers acknowledge that this is a step, not a final solution, and that justice for all workers will require overlapping programmes, a change in social attitudes, and a refocusing on the value of labour and work in US society.