Strike with Food Workers on May Day.

           The vital labor of our 21.5 million food workers feeds communities across this country.  Yet our jobs are some of the lowest paid in the nation.   Donald Trump and his inner circle of white nationalist champions have launched dangerous attacks against food worker families and all marginalized people. We will not sit by as families are shattered by immigration raids, Native sovereignty is violated, Muslims are banned, Black and Brown communities face even more criminalization, trans people excluded, all while corporate interests destroy the environment and drive down wages, safety protections, and organizing rights.

FCWA members are calling for a General Strike with movement partners on May 1, 2017 (International Workers’ Day). We join The Movement for Black Lives, National Domestic Workers Alliance, HEAL Food Alliance, and several West Coast unions in striking for dignified jobs for all.  We strike because we do not accept exclusion based on religion, race, gender identity, class, or immigration status.  On May Day, work for no one, buy nothing, and don’t go to school.  Come out to the streets to demonstrate our unity and collective power.  

To learn more about actions in your area, our rapid response network, resources, and how to grow the strike, visit the May Day General Strike website.

TYSON FOODS ANNOUNCES COMMITMENT TO IMPROVE WORKING CONDITIONS IN PROCESSING PLANTS

TYSON FOODS ANNOUNCES COMMITMENT TO IMPROVE WORKING CONDITIONS IN PROCESSING PLANTS

Chicago, IL – Tyson Foods announced today their new commitment to increase compensation, improve workplace safety, and better engage workers.  Tyson is making an important step forward with this commitment by recognizing their need to improve workplace standards.  Although, if the intention is to stand apart from competitors by providing better wages and working conditions, then we believe it’s critical for Tyson to align with values-based supply chains like the ones built through the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP).

In 2012, the City of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) adopted and began implementing Good Food Purchasing Program.  GFPP is the most comprehensive food procurement program in the country and the only one that requires labor standards for food vendors and suppliers. Participating institutions develop a transparent and metrics-based food supply chain that embraces 5 criteria in equal measure: valued workforce, animal welfare, environmental sustainability, nutrition, and local economies.

Yet Tyson Foods pulled out of a $20 million chicken contact with LAUSD in 2016 because they were unable to meet, nor were they aligned with, the required Good Food Purchasing Standards. That’s because Tyson has a track record of poor labor practices and workplace violations at their poultry processing plants.  Tyson is critical player in the corporate food industry that exploits land, labor, animals, and our community health.  And efforts like the Good Food Purchasing Program are tools for addressing these injustices.  

Being the largest poultry company in the nation and employing 63,000 workers across the country, Tyson has an opportunity to significantly impact our US workforce and food system.  However, they have a long way to go to build alignment when it comes to providing fair, humane, healthy, sustainable, and local food.  We encourage them to continue making changes to transform themselves into a business that reflects our collective values, and that is truly better for our workers, communities, and environment.