New England JLC joins Boston Workmen's Circle Shula 5th graders in Brookline, MA, Stop & Shop. Call for parent company, Ahold, to improve conditions for farm workers.
Photo by Marya Axner, New England Jewish Labor Committee
December 12, 2010: The New England Jewish Labor Committee joined the Boston Workmen's Circle Shula 5th graders in their protest against Stop & Shop, whose parent company, Ahold, has refused to sit down with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to talk about conditions for farm workers. The CIW is demanding justice for Florida tomato pickers through their Campaign for Fair Food, asking companies who buy tomatoes in large quantities to charge one penny per pound more for tomatoes, which will be passed on to the farm workers. The Campaign for Fair Food also calls for industry-wide third party mechanisms for monitoring conditions in the fields and investigating abuses. Tomato pickers make approximately $12,000 a year. If all tomato buyers participate in this program farm workers will earn approximately $17,000 per year. Sunday's protest was at the Stop & Shop on Harvard Street in Brookline, MA.