Milk with Dignity Campaign

The Milk with Dignity campaign builds a movement of farmworkers and allies calling on companies to ensure respect for human rights in their dairy supply chains by joining the worker-driven Milk with Dignity Program. 

In its early years, Migrant Justice began organizing workers on a farm-by-farm basis to address poor conditions and labor abuses in the dairy industry. Although some workers did succeed in improving conditions, the organization encountered many barriers. 

Agricultural workers are excluded from many labor laws, and those laws that are on the books are rarely enforced. Farmworkers in most states have no collective bargaining rights and limited protections against retaliation, meaning they are often fired for organizing and speaking out. After several years, farmworker members of Migrant Justice decided it was time to create a systemic solution with the capacity to drive industry-wide change.

In 2014, Vermont dairy workers conducted an in-depth survey of nearly 200 workers to document labor and housing conditions. The survey revealed widespread abuses of workers’ rights throughout the dairy industry. With the new data, Migrant Justice created a Code of Conduct to address these rights violations and to lay out the standards needed to meet workers’ definition of dignified working and housing conditions.

photo by Q2
photo by Q2

With the Code of Conduct in hand, farmworkers began a structural study of the dairy industry. Dairy workers came to recognize that the corporate-controlled industry keeps milk prices low, creating downward pressure on wages and labor conditions. Both farmworkers and farm owners are hurt by the unequal power structure and ultimately share many of the same interests. Farmworkers realized that human rights violations are ultimately the responsibility of the large corporations at the top of the dairy supply chain, and it is those companies that should be held responsible for ensuring dignified conditions in the industry.

At the same time, Migrant Justice formed a connection with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a Florida-based farmworker group. Dairy workers from Vermont traveled to southern Florida to learn about the CIW’s groundbreaking Fair Food Program. Through supply chain agreements with major corporations, the Fair Food Program had succeeded in improving conditions and protecting the rights of tens of thousands of workers picking tomatoes and other crops. With support from the CIW, Migrant Justice adapted the principles of Fair Food to the Northeast dairy industry to create the Milk with Dignity Program. 

Both the Milk with Dignity and Fair Food programs were developed using the principles of Worker-driven Social Responsibility (WSR). Marginalized workers around the world are using WSR to win rights and improve conditions through supply chain agreements that establish worker-authored protections and binding enforcement. Together with other practitioners of this model, Migrant Justice formed the Worker-driven Social Responsibility Network in 2015.

We invite dairy companies to take responsibility for the rights and well-being of farmworkers in their supply chains by joining the Milk with Dignity Program. Companies that sign a Milk with Dignity agreement commit to source from dairy farms that enroll in the Program and meet its requirements.

Milk with Dignity is based on five essential elements:

  1. Farmworker-authored Code of Conduct: Farms commit to meet worker-defined standards for pay, hours, benefits, health & safety, housing, and fair treatment;
  2. Farmworker-to-farmworker Education: Migrant Justice provides regular education to workers, managers, and farm owners on their rights and responsibilities under the Code of Conduct;
  3. Independent Monitoring: A third-party organization (the Milk with Dignity Standards Council) monitors farms’ compliance with the Code of Conduct; investigates worker complaints to address grievances; audits farms to create improvement plans; and enforces consequences for non-compliance;
  4. Economic Relief: Participating Buyers help cover the costs of compliance and incentivize participation through a Premium paid to farmers and farmworkers;
  5. Legally-binding Agreements: Participating Buyers sign contracts specifying their commitment to the Program.

Having developed the Program, farmworkers approached global ice cream brand Ben & Jerry’s, inviting the company to become the first to join Milk with Dignity. Migrant Justice and Ben & Jerry's engaged in nearly three years of discussion, accompanied by public campaigning by workers and consumers encouraging the company to join the program. The campaign ended on October 3, 2017, when Migrant Justice and Ben & Jerry's finalized and signed the first-ever Milk with Dignity agreement!

photo by Terry Allen
photo by Terry Allen

With Milk with Dignity established – and a growing body of data showing the Program’s unique and transformative impact – farmworkers have invited other dairy buyers to follow in Ben & Jerry’s footsteps and join Milk with Dignity. When they join the Program, companies will require farms in their supply chains to enroll, expanding Milk with Dignity’s protections to more farms and farmworkers.

The Milk with Dignity campaign currently focuses on Hannaford Supermarket, the largest supermarket chain in northern New England and a major buyer of dairy around the Northeast. Read more about abuses in Hannaford’s dairy supply chain and let Hannaford know that you support Milk with Dignity! Make sure you are on our email list and follow us on social media to stay involved in the ongoing campaign!

Milk with Dignity Campaign Resources