6/12 1pm: Milk with Dignity rally at Hannaford in Williston, VT
Posted Tue, 06/07/2022 - 7:01pm
This spring we’ve been turning up the heat on Hannaford Supermarkets, pressing the grocery chain to ensure dignified conditions for the dairy workers behind Hannaford-brand milk. Farmworkers and consumers are united in calling for Milk with Dignity.
Let’s keep the pressure going! Join us this Sunday at 1pm for a rally at Hannaford in Williston, VT!
In April, shareholders spoke out at the company’s annual meeting of investors, forcing executives to publicly address the Milk with Dignity campaign. Shareholders were adding their voices to workers’, who had filmed a video asking their own pointed questions to the CEO about documented abuses in the company’s dairy supply chain. Then on May 1st, hundreds of workers and consumers mobilized in a mass day of action, holding actions at 30 Hannaford locations across the northeast. The Mayday actions kicked off the next phase of the Milk with Dignity campaign, as allies in dozens of towns committed to “adopt” their local Hannaford and regularly engage with managers and customers in support of farmworker rights.
The pressure continues to mount on Hannaford to join Milk with Dignity. And the company continues to respond with the same tired excuses and justifications. Hannaford claims that its dairy supply chain is free from human rights abuses. As evidence, they say they’ve spoken with farm owners, made on-site assessments, and consulted with the Departments of Labor and Agriculture. You know who they haven’t spoken to? Farmworkers!
If Hannaford had spoken with workers, they would have heard from people like Tomás, who works 12 hours shifts without breaks and shares a deteriorating, overcrowded apartment above the milking parlor with eight other workers. “There’s no privacy and no ventilation. You can’t sleep, especially in the summer when it gets hot. We’re human beings and we have rights, too!”
Can’t make it to the action? No problem! Next Wednesday, 6/15, we will hold our next call-in action to Hannaford. Sign up now to contact Migrant Justice supporters and help drive calls to Hannaford’s headquarters next Wednesday!