Photo-Report from Milk with Dignity picket: Hannaford shuts down its store!

On International Workers’ Day, farmworkers held a sixteen-hour picket of Hannaford Supermarket to demand Milk with Dignity. The campaign notched a new achievement, as Hannaford chose to close its Williston store hours early in the face of overwhelming pressure from farmworkers and allies.

Dairy workers spent May Day educating consumers about the systemic labor abuses in Hannaford’s supply chain and urging them not to cross the picket line. While past actions have proven successful in dropping stores’ sales – as hundreds of potential customers show their solidarity by turning away – May Day’s picket succeeded, for the first time, in closing the store itself. 

This is a powerful signal that so long as Hannaford continues to avoid responsibility for ensuring the rights and wellbeing of dairy workers in its supply chain, it will pay a higher and higher price. The company claims to want dialogue, yet they have not meaningfully come to the table to engage with farmworkers. The choice for Hannaford has never been more clear: join Milk with Dignity or face the consequences of inaction.

The recent picket came on the heels of our participation in the annual shareholder meeting of Hannaford parent company Ahold Delhaize. At the meeting, held in the Netherlands, Migrant Justice and allied investors directly confronted corporate executives over the ongoing violations of farmworker rights in Hannaford’s supply chain. In response, Ahold’s CEO spoke of the importance of the issue, and executives approached Migrant Justice to initiate a discussion. While this represented a distinct shift in tone from previous years, actions speak louder than words.

On Mayday, farmworkers brought the fight back to the U.S., to a Hannaford store in Williston, Vermont to demand Milk with Dignity. Starting before the store’s opening at 7am, workers and allies picketed, calling on potential customers to show their support by withholding their purchasing power. Dozens of labor and community organizations joined farmworkers on the picket line, and hundreds of consumers received flyers throughout the day describing the low pay, long hours, and abusive conditions on the farms supplying Hannaford-brand milk. 

New and engaging artwork amplified picketers’ messages. Farmworkers enacted a theater performance in the street in front of the Hannaford, simulating the company’s reliance on false solutions to skirt responsibility; the play ended with actors engaging the audience for a march to the storefront. A 20-foot-tall puppet of a farmworker loomed over the picket line. A giant milk carton listed the “nutrition facts” inside Hannaford’s milk, including statistics of poor working conditions from Migrant Justice’s recent farmworker survey. Finally, workers around the state brought their old work clothing and work boots, which were strung up on a clothesline in front of the store. The sight – and smell – of the clothes fresh from the farm offered a pointed reminder of the realities workers face in Hannaford’s supply chain.

The action grew throughout the day, culminating in the arrival of hundreds of marchers from the May Day Strong coalition. Under a banner of “No War, No ICE, No Hannaford: Workers Over Billionaires,” marchers continued all the way up to the store’s front doors. Farmworkers addressed the arriving masses, providing testimony of abuses on farms supplying Hannaford milk contrasted with success stories from farms enrolled in the Milk with Dignity Program. Rather than allow customers to hear from workers, Hannaford decided to shut down the store and shuttle customers out the back door.

The action on International Workers’ Day was an overwhelming success, involving hundreds of campaign supporters and invigorating the Milk with Dignity campaign with new art, energy, and momentum. In spite of all the money that Hannaford has poured into security and public relations – including the rollout of a vacuous new web page responding to our campaign – the company was unable to silence farmworkers.

Let’s keep the momentum going! Join thousands of others who have signed the Milk with Dignity consumer pledge!

Starting before the store’s opening at 7am picketers lined up in front of the Hannaford Supermarket in Williston, Vermont

Hundreds of potential customers received flyers with information about abuses on farms supplying Hannaford-brand dairy. Many chose not to cross the picket line

The heavy presence of police and security guards throughout the day did nothing to dampen the spirits of farmworkers

Dozens of community and labor organizations – as well as organizations of farmers themselves, including NOFA-VT – joined the picket line to show their solidarity

Artists erected a giant milk carton outside the store’s entrance. The back side included “nutrition facts” with statistics of the poor conditions that workers experience on farms supplying Hannaford

Farmworkers brought their old work clothes and boots, which lined the sidewalk in front of the Hannaford and were later strung up and delivered to the store’s front door.

In the weeks before May Day, workers and supporters had constructed a giant puppet representing a farmworker. The puppet loomed over the picket line throughout the day

Farmworkers performed a work of street theater as a tool to educate the public on the history of the Milk with Dignity campaign. An actor portraying Hannaford President Mike Vail describes the false solutions that the company has used in an attempt to trick consumers

The May Day Strong Coalition organized a march from a nearby city park to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement office. Farmworkers joined with over a thousand marchers in a mass action on International Workers’ Day

As the march arrived at the Hannaford, marchers flooded the parking lot

Despite the company’s best attempts, workers’ messages arrived right to Hannaford’s front door. In response, Hannaford shut down the store