A farmworkers’ union, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, a trade association representing 90% of Florida’s tomato growers, agreed to a comprehensive agreement that includes paying pickers a penny more for every pound of tomatoes harvested. As a result of the deal, annual wages, which currently range from $10,000-$12,000, could rise as high as $17,000. The Coalition is made up of about 4,000 tomato workers, most of whom are immigrants from Mexico, Guatemala and Haiti.

 

Included in the contract is a code of conduct that guarantees stronger workplace protections, such as minimum-wage guarantees and a zero tolerance policy on forced and child labor.

 

The deal required not only farmers to sign on, but also major buyers of tomatoes, including Whole Foods Market, McDonald’s and Burger King. Actually, these companies had agreed to the wage increase years ago.

 

However, the growers association resisted, even threatening to fine any grower that agreed to the penny-a-pound raise. But in November 2010, two companies, Pacific Tomato Growers and Six L’s, broke ranks and signed agreements with the tomato pickers. Soon the growers’ association was forced to drop their opposition to a pact with the union.

 

Meanwhile, the extra money the tomato buyers had been paying was put into escrow account that grew to $2 million.

 

Some labor experts believe the agreement in Florida—the nation’s top producer of tomatoes—could become a model for labor groups in other states to follow.

-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky

 

After Long Fight, Farmworkers in Florida Win an Increase in Pay (by Kristofer Rios, New York Times)

Coalition of Immokalee Workers' Fight for Justice Leads to Historic Win (by Amy Bennett Williams, Fort Myers News-Press)

Tomato Growers, Laborers Strike Deal in ‘Watershed Moment’ (by Brett Adler, Florida Independent)