“Born in Mexico, Lucas Benitez at 17 moved to Immokalee, Florida, to work in the tomato fields, where he seethed over the mistreatment, lousy pay and backbreaking working conditions. (Florida growers produce almost half of the nation’s $1.3 billion annual tomato crop). As cofounder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Benitez has become a leader in the struggle to end exploitation in America’s agricultural fields. CIW began in 1992; a few years later, Benitez, now 37, helped organize a strike of more than 3,000 Mexican, Central American and Haitian workers.
In 2001, CIW launched its Campaign for Fair Food — forging an alliance between farmworkers and consumers, including student, religious, environmental, and labor groups. CIW scored its first major victory in 2005, when Taco Bell agreed to improve wages and working conditions in response to a national consumer boycott. So far ten giant retail food chains and supermarkets — including Aramark, Bon Appetit, Burger King, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Compass Group, McDonald’s, Sodexo, Subway, Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Yum Brands — have signed binding agreements with CIW that require growers to pass along an extra penny a pound to workers, raising average annual wages from $10,000 to $17,000. (Wendy’s and Publix supermarkets are still hold outs and targets of CIW-led protests).
CIW’s efforts have also forged a new approach to corporate social responsibility. Through its Fair Food Program, CIW has persuaded major food corporations to agree to purchase tomatoes only from the 26 participating growers (who account for 90 percent of tomato industry revenues) who have signed a code of conduct and agree to regular audits of its workplace practices, including pay, sexual harassment, and other labor issues. CIW conducts worker education sessions on the farms and on company time to insure that workers understand their new rights under the Fair Food Code of Conduct.”
-Huffington Post