A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Meg White

Sometimes, winning isn't everything. When Florida tomato pickers, who earn an average [1] of 45 cents for every 32 pounds of tomatoes harvested, won an extra cent per pound from national restaurant chains, their victory was short-lived.

In 2005, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers [2] (CIW) secured a promise from McDonald's, Yum! Brands (a parent company for fast food giants Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC and A&W), and later Burger King, to pay an extra cent per pound of tomatoes purchased from members of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange [3] (FTGE).

The battle for the extra cent was an effort to increase wages for tomato pickers, which have decreased [4] 65 percent in the past 30 years (when inflation is taken into account). In March 2005, workers began receiving an extra check from these giants in the food industry.

Last fall, FTGE, which is a co-op and lobbying group for tomato growers in Florida, threatened a $100,000 fine to be levied against member growers who continued to pay the one cent increase to their workers. That's when the checks stopped making it to the pickers. The restaurant companies have continued to pay the extra cent, but the money -- now over $110,000 -- is sitting in escrow. FTGE still refuses to hand the pennies over to the tomato pickers.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has been at the forefront of this issue. Though his home state is far from Florida, Sanders used his membership on the Senate Labor Committee to request a hearing [5] on the treatment of Florida tomato pickers in April.

Testifying that day were representatives of both growers and pickers.

Reggie Brown, vice president of the FTGE, said [6] there were too many legal problems in paying out the one cent raise. He said that tomatoes go through extensive cleaning and processing after harvest, so there is no way to tell which worker picked tomatoes that were ultimately bought by the companies who agreed to the raise.

Brown also argued that some restaurateurs may go to other states or countries for cheaper produce. Though CIW has argued the one-cent increase should be mandatory, the payment is currently part of a voluntary agreement. Brown told legislators that FTGE is also worried about being sued by workers who could assert they were not being paid fairly. This has not been an issue, however, since the payments began in 2005.

Since testifying, Brown announced that the threat of a $100,000 fine would be withdrawn [7]. He said the reason for backing off on the threat was bad publicity, and he blamed the media [8] for blowing the group's actions out of proportion.

Lucas Benitez testified [9] at the hearing as a co-founder of CIW and former tomato picker. He called on Congress to step in:

"Congress should insure that the FTGE is required to eliminate its threat to fine, or otherwise retaliate against, willing growers who agree to participate in the agreements like those that the CIW has reached with Yum! Brands and McDonald's. Those agreements represent a pure market solution to an intractable situation that has resisted progress for over 100 years. Without artificial and coercive intervention by what is essentially a tomato cartel, this market solution will indeed succeed in bringing needed change to the agricultural workplace."

Sen. Sanders' Director of Communications Michael Briggs said in a phone interview with BuzzFlash that the Senator and his colleague, Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL), have been speaking with FTGE to negotiate the release of payments to the workers. He said there is neither legislation nor any committee hearings in the hopper on the subject, but that doesn't mean Sanders has ruled out Congressional action.

"We hope it won't require federal legislation to accomplish," said Briggs. "[But] that's something they have in their back pocket."

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT

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