At the conclusion of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee’s march through downtown Winston-Salem on May 7, an impromptu dance competition broke out beneath the large oak trees surrounding Lloyd Presbyterian Church. Moving to the beat provided by Cakalak Thunder — the street drum corps that accompanied the estimated 120 marchers from a noontime rally at One Park Vista past Reynolds American’s headquarters to the church grounds off Chestnut Street — the marchers appeared to be in a celebratory mood.
Baldemar Velasquez, president and founder of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, or FLOC, delivered an impassioned message, telling the marchers they are the future of the movement that is demanding better working conditions for the state’s farm workers that harvest tobacco for Reynolds American, or RAI. “There is something at work here that we can’t see, there is something at work here that we can’t feel, there is something at work here that we can’t touch — all that justice that we seek is already won in [heaven],” Velasquez said. “All we need is for some soldiers to walk it out, to make what is in heaven come upon the earth, to make that reality here on earth materialize in the physical realm.”
Earlier in the day, more than 40 FLOC “soldiers” had entered the Reynolds American shareholders meeting in downtown Winston- Salem to support a shareholder proposal on human rights protocols for the company that directly relates to its treatment of farm workers domestically and around the globe. According to Reynolds American’s proxy statement, five shareholders submitted the proposal titled, “Create Human Rights Protocols for the Company and Its Suppliers.” The proposal was crafted by supporters of FLOC’s campaign, Velasquez said.
“In the USA, while RAI doesn’t directly hire farmworkers, it contracts with suppliers who do,” the shareholder proposal states. “When their farmworkers are unorganized, basic worker rights can be easily violated. This abuse is aggravated when they are undocumented.” The proposal also states that despite Reynolds American’s statements it has hired independent monitors to ensure it is not breaking any US or international laws, “its US suppliers continue to hire undocumented workers.”
The proposal also cites violations of human rights in Malawi, a key supplier of tobacco for Reynolds American, and calls for the creation of an enforcement mechanism to ensure growers are protecting farm workers’ basic rights. “Support for this proposal will help ensure our profits and dividends are not being realized by exploiting ‘the least’ of our brothers and sisters,” states the proposal. “Please support it so ‘good news’ may come to those who are poor whom we bear responsibility as shareholders.” The Rev. Michael Crosby, who helped introduce the shareholders human rights proposal at the May 7 meeting, said the vast chasm between the people at the top of Reynolds American’s supply chain and those at the bottom underscores the importance of FLOC’s campaign.
“The core issue here is justice to farm workers and because there is injustice, you get this huge disparity between what the top executives are making on the back of the farm workers,” Crosby said. “Those who have are getting more. Those who have little are getting even that taken away from them, including their right to organize.” Velasquez said most of the state’s tobacco workers are earning $7.25 an hour — minimum wage — while Reynolds executives are making millions in compensation. In 2009, Ivey earned $16.4 million in compensation, an increase of nearly $7 million from her 2008 compensation package.
The measure was soundly defeated but gained support from more than 10 percent of the company’s shareholders, which means it is eligible for another vote at next year’s meeting. After the presentation of the proposal, CEO Susan Ivey referred to the company’s human rights statement adopted earlier this year as evidence of the company’s “long-held belief that universally recognized human rights should be respected.”
“RAI and its operating companies are committed to complying with all laws and regulations,” Ivey said. “However, we do not believe it is appropriate for our companies to assume the regulatory and enforcement role of the federal, state and local governments.” In a prepared statement, FLOC took issue with Reynolds American’s pledge to address human rights issues related to working conditions in foreign countries. In its proxy statement for the 2010 shareholders meeting, the company said it will “seek opportunities for partnering with other concerned parties to improve these conditions.”
“Why will [Reynolds American] not partner with interested parties such as FLOC when workers face the same situation right here in North Carolina?” the union asked in the statement. Reynolds American has steadfastly claimed that farm workers who harvest its tobacco are not its employees, and therefore not the company’s responsibility. Reynolds American contends that it contracts with tobacco growers, and it’s the growers who hire the farm workers. Velasquez strongly disagrees with Reynolds American’s position. He contends that the company responsible for its entire supply chain from top to bottom.
During the May 7 rally, Velasquez asked the crowd to think about the plight of tobacco workers at the bottom of the chain. “Brothers and sisters, this is the temperature and the heat the workers are out there planting tobacco — topping, suckering and harvesting — not only in 85 degree, but 90 degrees, 100 degrees and they’re going to be working all day in this heat, in this sun from six in the morning to six in the evening with a half-hour for lunch,” Velasquez said.
In 2005, FLOC and the Growers Association signed an historic agreement that granted immigrant tobacco farm workers a set of basic rights. The agreement gave farm workers freedom of association — any worker can join the union — as well as a grievance procedures covering a host of issues from recruitment in Mexico to unfair working conditions in the tobacco fields. Other worker benefits include injury pay, bereavement pay, a workers’ compensation system and a seniority system that helps eliminate discrimination against workers who file grievances. Velasquez said FLOC is not seeking a three-way contract between the union, the NC Growers Association and Reynolds American — like the 2004 contract it struck with Mount Olive Pickle Company.
“We don’t seek to do the same thing we did with Mount Olive, but the principle is the same — we hold the entire supply chain accountable for the people on the bottom,” Velasquez said. “This is much more massive. If we’re going to improve the conditions of those workers and their environment, we need to talk about the best structure to do that.” FLOC estimates that only 15 to 20 percent of tobacco growers in the state supply their product to Reynolds American. If FLOC strikes an agreement with Reynolds, that would leave 80 to 85 percent of tobacco farm workers unprotected, Velasquez said. FLOC hopes that by starting a dialogue with Reynolds American, the two parties can reach a creative solution.
“We don’t know what the actual programmatic solution is until we start throwing things back and forth in a discussion,” Velasquez said. “The solution will probably be different than [successful FLOC campaigns against] Campbell’s Soup, Dean’s Foods, Vlasic Pickle and Mount Olive. It all depends on the creativity of the players and their desire to change the terrible conditions on bottom of the supply chain.”
Virginia Nesmith, executive director of the National Farmworker Ministry, said that Reynolds’ claims that its contract grower and farm worker surveys indicate “a high level of satisfaction by farm workers” is highly suspect. “We know the very extreme difficulty in finding out through surveys like that how workers are treated,” Nesmith said. “They continue to urge us to go through the regulatory process and the Department of Labor … there’s not nearly enough people to enforce the laws, and farm workers are afraid. They’re afraid even when you think they’re independently being spoken to. They’re afraid to speak up about poor conditions because of they’re afraid of job loss and if they’re undocumented, they’re also afraid of deportation.”
If Reynolds American is truly committed to respecting human rights, the company should create an enforcement mechanism to ensure farm workers are protected, said Nesmith. “It’s hollow without being able to, one, say what you’re planning to do with growers who are not complying with workers’ human rights, and they said they trusted the growers were doing well and they encouraged them to abide by the law and believe that they are, but they have no ramifications for those who aren’t,” she said.
At the conclusion of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee’s march through downtown Winston-Salem on May 7, an impromptu dance competition broke out beneath the large oak trees surrounding Lloyd Presbyterian Church. Moving to the beat provided by Cakalak Thunder — the street drum corps that accompanied the estimated 120 marchers from a noontime rally at One Park Vista past Reynolds American’s headquarters to the church grounds off Chestnut Street — the marchers appeared to be in a celebratory mood.
Baldemar Velasquez, president and founder of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, or FLOC, delivered an impassioned message, telling the marchers they are the future of the movement that is demanding better working conditions for the state’s farm workers that harvest tobacco for Reynolds American, or RAI. “There is something at work here that we can’t see, there is something at work here that we can’t feel, there is something at work here that we can’t touch — all that justice that we seek is already won in [heaven],” Velasquez said. “All we need is for some soldiers to walk it out, to make what is in heaven come upon the earth, to make that reality here on earth materialize in the physical realm.”
Earlier in the day, more than 40 FLOC “soldiers” had entered the Reynolds American shareholders meeting in downtown Winston- Salem to support a shareholder proposal on human rights protocols for the company that directly relates to its treatment of farm workers domestically and around the globe. According to Reynolds American’s proxy statement, five shareholders submitted the proposal titled, “Create Human Rights Protocols for the Company and Its Suppliers.” The proposal was crafted by supporters of FLOC’s campaign, Velasquez said.
“In the USA, while RAI doesn’t directly hire farmworkers, it contracts with suppliers who do,” the shareholder proposal states. “When their farmworkers are unorganized, basic worker rights can be easily violated. This abuse is aggravated when they are undocumented.” The proposal also states that despite Reynolds American’s statements it has hired independent monitors to ensure it is not breaking any US or international laws, “its US suppliers continue to hire undocumented workers.”
The proposal also cites violations of human rights in Malawi, a key supplier of tobacco for Reynolds American, and calls for the creation of an enforcement mechanism to ensure growers are protecting farm workers’ basic rights. “Support for this proposal will help ensure our profits and dividends are not being realized by exploiting ‘the least’ of our brothers and sisters,” states the proposal. “Please support it so ‘good news’ may come to those who are poor whom we bear responsibility as shareholders.” The Rev. Michael Crosby, who helped introduce the shareholders human rights proposal at the May 7 meeting, said the vast chasm between the people at the top of Reynolds American’s supply chain and those at the bottom underscores the importance of FLOC’s campaign.
“The core issue here is justice to farm workers and because there is injustice, you get this huge disparity between what the top executives are making on the back of the farm workers,” Crosby said. “Those who have are getting more. Those who have little are getting even that taken away from them, including their right to organize.” Velasquez said most of the state’s tobacco workers are earning $7.25 an hour — minimum wage — while Reynolds executives are making millions in compensation. In 2009, Ivey earned $16.4 million in compensation, an increase of nearly $7 million from her 2008 compensation package.
The measure was soundly defeated but gained support from more than 10 percent of the company’s shareholders, which means it is eligible for another vote at next year’s meeting. After the presentation of the proposal, CEO Susan Ivey referred to the company’s human rights statement adopted earlier this year as evidence of the company’s “long-held belief that universally recognized human rights should be respected.”
“RAI and its operating companies are committed to complying with all laws and regulations,” Ivey said. “However, we do not believe it is appropriate for our companies to assume the regulatory and enforcement role of the federal, state and local governments.” In a prepared statement, FLOC took issue with Reynolds American’s pledge to address human rights issues related to working conditions in foreign countries. In its proxy statement for the 2010 shareholders meeting, the company said it will “seek opportunities for partnering with other concerned parties to improve these conditions.”
“Why will [Reynolds American] not partner with interested parties such as FLOC when workers face the same situation right here in North Carolina?” the union asked in the statement. Reynolds American has steadfastly claimed that farm workers who harvest its tobacco are not its employees, and therefore not the company’s responsibility. Reynolds American contends that it contracts with tobacco growers, and it’s the growers who hire the farm workers. Velasquez strongly disagrees with Reynolds American’s position. He contends that the company responsible for its entire supply chain from top to bottom.
During the May 7 rally, Velasquez asked the crowd to think about the plight of tobacco workers at the bottom of the chain. “Brothers and sisters, this is the temperature and the heat the workers are out there planting tobacco — topping, suckering and harvesting — not only in 85 degree, but 90 degrees, 100 degrees and they’re going to be working all day in this heat, in this sun from six in the morning to six in the evening with a half-hour for lunch,” Velasquez said.
In 2005, FLOC and the Growers Association signed an historic agreement that granted immigrant tobacco farm workers a set of basic rights. The agreement gave farm workers freedom of association — any worker can join the union — as well as a grievance procedures covering a host of issues from recruitment in Mexico to unfair working conditions in the tobacco fields. Other worker benefits include injury pay, bereavement pay, a workers’ compensation system and a seniority system that helps eliminate discrimination against workers who file grievances. Velasquez said FLOC is not seeking a three-way contract between the union, the NC Growers Association and Reynolds American — like the 2004 contract it struck with Mount Olive Pickle Company.
“We don’t seek to do the same thing we did with Mount Olive, but the principle is the same — we hold the entire supply chain accountable for the people on the bottom,” Velasquez said. “This is much more massive. If we’re going to improve the conditions of those workers and their environment, we need to talk about the best structure to do that.” FLOC estimates that only 15 to 20 percent of tobacco growers in the state supply their product to Reynolds American. If FLOC strikes an agreement with Reynolds, that would leave 80 to 85 percent of tobacco farm workers unprotected, Velasquez said. FLOC hopes that by starting a dialogue with Reynolds American, the two parties can reach a creative solution.
“We don’t know what the actual programmatic solution is until we start throwing things back and forth in a discussion,” Velasquez said. “The solution will probably be different than [successful FLOC campaigns against] Campbell’s Soup, Dean’s Foods, Vlasic Pickle and Mount Olive. It all depends on the creativity of the players and their desire to change the terrible conditions on bottom of the supply chain.”
Virginia Nesmith, executive director of the National Farmworker Ministry, said that Reynolds’ claims that its contract grower and farm worker surveys indicate “a high level of satisfaction by farm workers” is highly suspect. “We know the very extreme difficulty in finding out through surveys like that how workers are treated,” Nesmith said. “They continue to urge us to go through the regulatory process and the Department of Labor … there’s not nearly enough people to enforce the laws, and farm workers are afraid. They’re afraid even when you think they’re independently being spoken to. They’re afraid to speak up about poor conditions because of they’re afraid of job loss and if they’re undocumented, they’re also afraid of deportation.”
If Reynolds American is truly committed to respecting human rights, the company should create an enforcement mechanism to ensure farm workers are protected, said Nesmith. “It’s hollow without being able to, one, say what you’re planning to do with growers who are not complying with workers’ human rights, and they said they trusted the growers were doing well and they encouraged them to abide by the law and believe that they are, but they have no ramifications for those who aren’t,” she said.
Ultimately, it would be in Reynolds American’s best interest to sit down with FLOC’s leaders, Nesmith added.
Velasquez said the next step of the campaign is to continue to put pressure on the company and its board members to meet with FLOC by utilizing a corporate campaign strategy.
“That means going after their business partners — JP Morgan Chase, the bank that extends them credit,” Velasquez said. “We have a lot of consumers looking for something to boycott. We’ve not pulled that trigger yet, but as we flesh out dialogue or lack of dialogue with these business partners, they’re going to become part of a dispute that is not of their making and they’re not going to like it … It’s the beginning of them getting into a struggle they can’t win.”
