Huffington Post: "Farmworkers are Taking on Poor Pay and Conditions---And Winning"

Check out this great piece from Huffington Post on how the Worker-Driven-Social Responsibility model, developed by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, is being adapted to Vermont through the Milk with Dignity Program to secure the human rights of dairy workers:

"In 2014, the Burlington-based nonprofit Migrant Justice launched its Milk With Dignity campaign and named Ben & Jerry’s as its first corporate target didn’t take long for the company to join the campaign: it signed an intention to implement the program throughout its northeast supply chain last year. And while negotiations are ongoing, organizers are optimistic those talks will come to a successful close soon.

According to Abel Luna, an education coordinator with Migrant Justice, the issues facing dairy workers in Vermont are similar to those of the Florida tomato pickers — long days, low wages and little time off.

 

“You have no idea and have no control over your life,” Luna told HuffPost. “You’re dependent on other people to tell you everything.”

TOBY TALBOT/ASSOCIATED PRESS

Vermont nonprofit Migrant Justice is helping secure better wages and working conditions for dairy workers.

 

 

Luna says the campaign is changing all of that.

 

“From the first day, you feel the difference,” Luna added. “You will be educated about what your rights and benefits as workers will be and you’ll be educated on how to access this third-party mechanism to enforce your rights if there is a violation. You feel valued as a worker.”

 

Making improved wages and conditions the new normal for U.S. farmworkers could prove a challenge, and consumers will need to be on board."

Read the whole article here at Huffington Post.