By Esteban O Sullivan
Aramark, UF’s food service supplier, has agreed to pay a penny and a half more per pound for the tomatoes they purchase – a premium that will go directly toward increasing the wages of tomato pickers.
UF Student/Farmworker Alliance members heard the decision on March 22.
“We had heard from the [Coalition of Immokalee Workers] two weeks ago in a phone call that they were 99 percent sure that Aramark would cave,” said Jeremiah Tattersall, a member of UF’s chapter of the SFA. “After that one percent to came through, it was all hugs. We were just so happy. Two things we kept repeating after that: ‘activism works!’ and ‘the Left got a win!’”
This decision was reached after lobbying from CIW and a series of on-campus protests against Aramark held by the SFA in conjunction with CIW.
In talks, Aramark specifically mentioned the pressure it was feeling on college campuses, which are essential to its line of business. Because of this, students at UF used their combined powers to directly help farmworkers achieve better conditions.
When students started the campaign to force Aramark to concede to CIW’s demands in September 2009, they hosted members of CIW to speak on campus, held a large rally that marched to the Reitz Union, convinced Student Government to issue a resolution calling for Aramark to meet with CIW, and passed out pamphlets to new UF students and Preview attendees.
“Finally, Aramark flew a few of their vice presidents down from Philadelphia to meet with us for over an hour, where we clearly stated that the campaign would escalate until Aramark met the CIW’s demands, and only a few weeks later, we heard the news that Aramark had capitulated,” said Richard Blake, member of SFA.
“Together with Aramark and our other partners, we are building a system of real accountability with tangible consequences for growers who fail to protect farmworkers’ basic rights,” said CIW’s Lucas Benitez, in a statement. “It is our belief that such accountability, with worker input, will be the foundation for lasting improvements in the industry.”
Similar to those previously reached between CIW and other food service and restaurant groups, the agreement establishes a supplier code of conduct developed and implemented with input from farmworkers themselves.
For those of us who spend $2 to $3 on a pound of tomatoes in the grocery store, a 1.5-cent increase doesn’t sound like much. But this will effectively double the average farmworker’s wage, making it possible to earn $100 on a good day rather than $50, accordingly to a press release from CIW.
CIW, “community-based worker organization,” has three demands that form the mainstay of an ongoing campaign for farmworkers’ rights.
Currently, tomato pickers in Immokalee are paid 40 cents to 45 cents for each 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick. The additional 1.5 cents per pound represents the first wage increase for Florida tomato pickers since 1978.
“We have addressed concerns about these issues with our major suppliers and, amongst other things, have put processes in place that will demand greater transparency in our purchasing channel,” said Robert Dennill, the associate vice president of corporate responsibility for Aramark.
CIW counts previous major victories in getting Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, Whole Foods Market and Compass Group, a food service provider similar to Aramark, to sign on to the 1.5-cent increase.
UF’s SFA will be targeting Publix next. It is planning the Farmworker Freedom March from Tampa to Publix’s headquarters in Lakeland to pressure the company to sign a similar agreement.
Tags: Aramark • migrant farm workers