Migrant Justice Justicia Migrante

Facundo works on a farm that produces milk for Hannaford Supermarkets. For years, he and his five co-workers lived in an “apartment” built into the side of a garage. “On one half they still keep the tractors, and on the other half is where we live.”

Organizing through Migrant Justice, the workers asked repeatedly for repairs or new housing. After many delays, Facundo and his co-workers have finally moved out of the garage. While we celebrate workers’ persistence and courage – and that they won’t have to spend another winter living in such inhumane conditions – we must recognize that these conditions are intolerable and should never have been permitted in the first place.

While the farmworkers behind Hannaford-brand milk are forced to “innovate” – sleeping on concrete troughs next to tractors and taking pains to avoid rats and mold – Hannaford President Mike Vail sleeps in a $2 million seaside mansion.

Do you think it’s time for Hannaford to get with the program? Take these three actions:

• Send an email to Hannaford President Mike Vail telling him to join Milk with Dignity

• Do you shop at Hannaford? Next time you’re in the store ask to speak with the manager and tell them you support Milk with Dignity

• Download this image and post it as a comment on Hannaford’s facebook page.

Or click "Read More" to get the full story!

For many dairy workers, this Christmas will be like any other day: up before dawn for a long, unbroken shift of dangerous work for little pay, then home to crowded and drafty housing. For workers on Milk with Dignity farms, Christmas is a paid holiday, just one of the many guarantees provided by our worker-driven human rights program.

The program's dignified conditions recently inspired an endorsement from the National Farm Worker Ministry, a faith-based organization comprised of dozens of congregations and religious communities around the country. The Ministry wrote this week to Hannaford President Mike Vail, urging the supermarket chain to join Milk with Dignity:

Milk with Dignity aligns with our values in the way that the program gives farm workers oversight regarding their living and working conditions. We believe that, like everyone, farm workers deserve to live and work in safety and dignity with just compensation. By signing on to Milk with Dignity, Hannaford has the opportunity to be a leader in taking responsibility for the rights and well-being of workers in your supply chain.

Join with the National Farm Worker Ministry in calling on Hannaford to join Milk with Dignity. This Christmas, tell company President Mike Vail: "Don't be a Scrooge!"

2020 has been a year of nearly unparalleled loss, pain, and struggle. We have felt this acutely at Migrant Justice: we mourn the death of beloved community member Durvi Martinez, who died of Covid-19 after being held for months in ICE detention and deported. Yet amid this year of darkness, the courageous organizing of Migrant Justice has been a beacon of hope, showing that even in the most difficult of times change is possible. In the past twelve months – despite the hardships – Migrant Justice has never relented, persevering to win a series of inspirational human rights victories.

Click "Read More" to read about our incredible and impactful achievements over the past year.

Last week, thirteen food and agriculture organizations collectively penned a letter to Mike Vail, the president of northeast supermarket chain Hannaford. The groups added their names to the thousands who are urging Hannaford to join the Milk with Dignity program. The letter finished with a powerful call to action:

“We believe that, like everyone, farmworkers deserve to live and work in dignity. By signing on to Milk with Dignity, Hannaford has the opportunity to be a leader in taking responsibility for the rights and wellbeing of workers in their supply chain. Farmworkers, consumers, and all who value human rights over profits are united in calling for Milk with Dignity. It is time for Hannaford to get with the program and ensure that farmworkers’ human rights are protected. We urge you to join Milk with Dignity.”

Click Read More to learn about the shocking conditions in Hannaford´s dairy supply chain and farmworkers' organizing for respect, rights, and dignity!

Migrant Justice settles federal lawsuit on ICE retaliation: Trump administration agrees to terms in First Amendment suit days before election

 In a settlement to a major federal lawsuit, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has agreed not to deport the immigrant activists who sued the agency after suffering retaliatory arrests, and to instruct officers not to target people “for exercising First Amendment rights.” Immigrant farmworkers with Vermont-based human rights organization Migrant Justice led a march today to Burlington’s federal courthouse to claim victory and file the settlement in Migrant Justice v. Wolf.  

“With this settlement, we have shown that we won’t back down in the face of ICE’s abuses. They have tried to silence us by terrorizing our community and targeting our leaders, but we are here today to say that we will not be silenced,” said Victor Diaz, a Migrant Justice leader and plaintiff.

Read more for the full press release!

The first Milk with Dignity Biennial Report is now public! The 68-page report documents the tremendous progress made in 2018 and 2019, the first two years of the program’s existence. In that time, we have begun to achieve the “new day for human rights in the dairy industry” that we predicted upon signing the first Milk with Dignity agreement with Ben & Jerry’s on October 3rd, 2017.

The report shows two years of incredible achievements, made possible by the program’s worker-driven structure, comprehensive monitoring by the Milk with Dignity Standards Council, and strong enforcement mechanisms backed up by the market power of Ben & Jerry’s. It weaves together compelling case studies and extensive data to tell the story of how Milk with Dignity is transforming the dairy industry.

On Saturday – three years to the day after Ben & Jerry’s became the program’s first participating company – farmworkers and supporters gathered in downtown St. Albans to present these findings and more from the Milk with Dignity report.

Read more for a full photo report of the press conference and delegations!

On October 3rd, Migrant Justice and the Milk with Dignity Standards Council will release a report documenting the first two years of the Milk with Dignity Program. Covering hundreds of dairy workers, the program is achieving unprecedented transformations on dairy farms throughout Vermont and New York, and we are excited to share a detailed report of these accomplishments.

10/3 will mark three years since Ben & Jerry's became the first company to join the Milk with Dignity Program and a full year since we first publicly called on supermarket chain Hannaford to follow suit. We will hold a press conference in Taylor Park in downtown St. Albans, VT. St. Albans is the epicenter of northern Vermont's dairy industry and home to the dairy cooperative to which Milk with Dignity farms belong. Workers and farmers in the program, as well as representatives from Ben & Jerry's and the Milk with Dignity Standards Council, will speak about the Program's incredible accomplishments.

Migrant Justice has sent a letter alongside nearly three dozen labor rights, farmer, and farmworker organizations addressed to the CEO of "Fair Trade USA" (FTUSA). In it, we call on the group to stop a proposed pilot that it claims will improve labor conditions in the dairy industry.

FTUSA has a long history of slapping "fair trade" labels on products without protecting the rights of the workers making those products. While claiming to support workers, they essentially work as a PR firm for brands. This "fair-washing" confuses consumers, sweeps abuses under the rug, and actively undermines workers' efforts to organize to win rights and protections. Now, they are developing a program for the dairy industry with yogurt company Chobani.

“As workers, we have fought hard to change the terrible conditions we face on farms,” says Vermont dairy worker and Migrant Justice leader Rossy Alfaro. “We have created a program that is actually making a difference and enforcing our rights. Now Fair Trade USA is coming along, dressed up like a program that helps workers, but it’s really only propaganda for the companies that are getting rich while we suffer.

Read the full letter here or click "Read More" to learn about the differences between fair-washing programs like FTUSA and worker-driven programs like Milk with Dignity.

While Hannaford profits off the pandemic, farmworkers in the company’s supply chain continue to be paid poverty wages. And in some cases, like that of farmworker Gustavo, they are not being paid at all. Gustavo worked on a farm in northern Vermont until he was recently fired without cause.

"All of a sudden the boss told me that I was out of a job and I had to leave. He didn’t pay me the $2,500 that he owed, he just said he would pay me tomorrow. But the next day I called him and he said the same thing. Days went by but my pay never came. Eventually he stopped answering his phone. I was scared to go to his house to ask for my wages because the farm is close to the border and I knew he could retaliate against me."

Eventually, Gustavo reached out to Migrant Justice and the organization supported him in filing a wage theft claim with the Department of Labor. With this support, Gustavo successfully recovered his stolen wages, but this outcome is the exception to the norm. 20% of Vermont dairy workers have experienced wage theft similar to what happened to Gustavo.

Read more to learn more about Gustavo's case and take action to hold Hannaford accountable!

We are so excited to share this news: Vermont Governor Phil Scott announced his budget proposal on August 18th – and included $2 million for the Immigrant Families Coronavirus Relief Fund!

This is a huge step forward, but the fight isn't over yet. The Governor's proposal now heads to the legislature; over the next several weeks, state senators and representatives will debate the proposal before approving a final budget.

We need to tell legislators that the Governor's $2 million is a good start but isn't enough! The legislature must fully fund the Immigrant Families Coronavirus Relief Fund – $5 million in total – in the FY2021 budget.

The House and Senate Appropriations Committees are meeting jointly next week to hear public testimony on the Governor's budget proposal. Immigrant farmworkers will be testifying; will you join them?