Nov 17, 2010

Florida tomato growers, workers reach agreement

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE) have reached an agreement that will extend CIW’s Fair Food principles – including a strict code of conduct, a cooperative complaint resolution system, a participatory health and safety program and a worker-to-worker education process – to more than 90 percent of the Florida tomato industry.

The collaboration will unfold in a two-step process. For the 2010-2011 season, participating FTGE members have agreed to pass through the penny-per-pound from participating purchasers and cooperate with a financial audit of the penny-per-pound funds. They have also adopted the Fair Food Code of Conduct, which will be fully implemented by the beginning of the 2011-2012 season.

During the current season, FTGE member growers Six L’s and Pacific Tomato Growers (who independently signed agreements with CIW earlier this season) will join with CIW in a working group charged with developing and evaluating the protocols and systems necessary to implement the Fair Food Code of Conduct. The working group will develop systems that can be applied on the industry level. During this first season, the code will be fully in effect, and monitored, only on farms that are part of the working group.

In the second step, beginning with the 2011-2012 season, the protocols and systems developed and tested during the first season by the group will be shared with the other member farms, and the code of conduct will become fully effective on all participating farms.

The agreement comes after 15 years of often contentious relations between CIW and the growers’ association. It also comes in the wake of bilateral Fair Food agreements announced in October with tomato industry leaders Pacific Tomato Growers and Six L’s, according to CIW.