October 4, 2012: It’s a big day in food labor! Today, Walmart workers in Los Angeles went on strike – the first time in history that Walmart workers have walked off the job to protest unfair and unsafe working conditions! AND, Chipotle finally agreed to sign the Fair Food Agreement with FCWA member Coalition of Immokalee Workers!
OUR Walmart members in Southern California are walking off the job to protest Walmart’s attempts to silence the Associates.
For over a year, Walmart retail workers have been coming together to call for change at Walmart. Through worker-led Organization United for Respect at Walmart, workers have been calling on the company to address issues with scheduling, benefits, wages and above all, respect in the workplace.
But instead of being responsive, Walmart has lashed out at workers for speaking up. The company is trying to silence and intimidate the workers through unfair disciplinary actions, cut backs in hours and even firings. They are on strike to protest these illegal attempts to silence them.
Salon.com reports: “Today, for the first time in Walmart’s fifty-year history, workers at multiple stores are out on strike. Minutes ago, dozens of workers at Southern California stores launched a one-day work stoppage in protest of alleged retaliation against their attempts to organize. This is the latest – and most dramatic – of the recent escalations in the decades-long struggle between organized labor and the largest private employer in the world.”
Read the full article here.
To support the striking Walmart workers you can sign a letter of solidarity to show the company that you’re standing with the workers.
Chipotle signs agreement with CIW to join Fair Food Program!
DENVER, October 4, 2012 – Chipotle Mexican Grill and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a farmworker-based human rights organization, have reached an agreement that brings Chipotle’s commitment to sustainable food to the CIW’s Fair Food Program. The agreement, which will improve wages and working conditions for farmworkers in Florida who pick tomatoes for Chipotle, comes in advance of the winter tomato-growing season, when most of the nation’s tomatoes come from growers in Florida.
The Fair Food Program provides a bonus for tomato pickers to improve wages and binds growers to protocols and a code of conduct that explicitly include a voice for workers in health and safety issues, worker-to-worker education on the new protections under the code, and a complaint resolution procedure which workers can use without fear of retaliation. The Program also provides for independent third party audits to ensure compliance.
“With this agreement, we are laying down a foundation upon which we all – workers, growers, and Chipotle – can build a stronger Florida tomato industry for the future,” said Gerardo Reyes of the CIW. “But more than this, today’s news marks a turning point in the sustainable food movement as a whole, whereby, thanks to Chipotle’s leadership, farmworkers are finally recognized as true partners — every bit as vital as farmers, chefs, and restaurants — in bringing ‘good food’ to our tables.”
“Chipotle has an unmatched track record driving positive change in the nation’s food supply and is continuously working to find better, more sustainable sources for all of the ingredients we use — sources that produce food in ways that demonstrate respect for the land, farm animals, and the people involved,” said Chris Arnold, communications director at Chipotle. “We believe that this agreement underscores our long-standing commitment to the people who produce the food we serve in our restaurants.”
Chipotle becomes the 11th company to join the CIW’s Fair Food Program, which is designed to create a sustainable tomato industry through respect for the rights and concerns of all involved. The Fair Food Premium paid by participating buyers like Chipotle is used to help participating growers improve wages and working conditions for Florida farmworkers.