CIW and La Via Compesina- A Workers Voice

Consciousness + Commitment = Change.  According to the CIW online database headquarters “The CIW is a community-based organization of mainly Latino, Mayan Indian and Haitian immigrants working in low-wage jobs throughout the state of Florida.”  The CIW’s efforts gear towards the equality of fair wage, respect in the work environments, cheaper housing, stronger laws and enforcement, and end to involuntary servitude in the fields. The CIW represents a struggle for justice in their fight for visibility.  Their disruptance include such movements as the Anti-Slavery Campaign and the Campaign for Fair Food.  With the Anti- Slavery Campaign CIW was able to gain national and international recognition to the investigation against involuntary servitude as well as build awareness to human rights education. 

CIW establishing a powerful new voice for the respect of human rights

The CIW’s Campaign for Fair Food began as a farmworker boycott targeting one of the largest fast food giants in the nation; Taco Bell.  The CIW’s goal was for these leading fast food corporations to take responsibility for human rights abuse in the fields where their produce is grown. The consumers played a role in this boycott when the “Boot the Bell” boycott spread through high school and college campuses across the nation.  With the refusal of purchasing Taco Bell products, the powers now lied in the hands of the consumers.  Due to consumer power the demands to improve wages and working conditions for Florida tomato pickers was met.  But it did not end here.  Now that The Coalitional of Immokalee Workers has established a voice in the mainstream media, it was time to keep their movement going.  The CIW collaborated with other leading fast food branches such as McDonalds, Burger King and Subway striking a deal with growers to raise workers’ pay and to create an industry code of conduct, a health and safety program and a system to resolve worker complaints.

50 Pounds of Tamoto?

Or 10 cents of labor.

With these many accomplishments lead to the birth of the “One Penny More” movement.  The intention of this campaign was to build a voice for unjust wages and Fair Trade, asking for one more penny for every pound of tomato that was picked.  The purpose was not to only increase the wages of the workers, but to build awareness on the concept behind asking for “one more penny.” The very minuscule request in asking for one more penny, instead of 5, 10 or 25 showcased the reluctant compromise of these large corporations. The CIW faced challenges in how much power these corporations truly possessed.  They were very aware that many of the farm workers were illegal immigrants and were not supported under U.S. labor protection laws.  According to an editorial in the New York Times, “The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, which represents 90 percent of the state’s tomato growers, still fought back, threatening huge fines against members who participated. The extra pay sat in escrow.”

Another group striving for justice in today’s society is La Via Compesina. La Via Compesina is “a transnational agrarian movement made up of organizations of peasants, small- and medium-scale farmers, rural women, farm workers and indigenous agrarian communities throughout Asia, the Americas, Europe and Africa. These groups all share an intimate connection to the land and a collective will to work together to build a more humane world” (Desmarais, Navarro 2009).  La Via Compensina has become one of the most powerful voices of resistance towards globalization and the corporate model of agriculture.  These movements build awareness on the funds that are systematically displacing farmers and undercutting local economies and food traditions.  Their disruptance coincides with The Coalitional of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in the fight to overcome Invisibility and injustice working environments.  We must not conform to the bottleneck corporations.   

THE STAGES OF YOUR FOOD