NEW YORK— The Coalition of Immokalee Workers — a group representing Florida farmworkers who pick tomatoes — is scheduled to hold a rally Sunday at a Stop & Shop in Boston and Monday at a Trader Joe's Market on Manhattan’s Upper West Side here.
The rallies are part of a weeklong tour by CIW supporters to encourage supermarket chains to support better working conditions for Florida farmworkers, including better pay, a strict code of conduct, a cooperative complaint-resolution system, a participatory health and safety program, and a worker-to-worker education process.
In November, the coalition signed an agreement with the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange that extends those improvements to more than 90% of Florida's tomato fields. The CIW has previously held rallies at other chains along the East Coast.
A spokeswoman for Stop & Shop, a division of Ahold USA, told SN the chain stopped buying tomatoes from the Immokalee, Fla., region last April after meeting with CIW representatives; sent an internal team to the region to talk with growers, suppliers and others; and resumed purchasing tomoatoes from the area in December "from growers who demonstrated a clear commitment to comply with our standards."
A Trader Joe's spokesman told SN it already buys tomatoes from Florida growers who have agreements in place with the CIW.
"Further, we work directly with reputable suppliers that have a strong record of providing safe and healthy work environments, and we will continue to make certain that our vendors are meeting, if not exceeding, government standards throughout all aspects of their businesses.
"To date, Trader Joe's has not received specific information from the CIW about the potential human rights violations in their allegations. We are unable to comment on accusations we haven't seen."
