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Being a union store is not enough, says the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), a Toledo-based union that represents migrant farm workers.
FLOC wants the Kroger Co., one of the largest employers of union workers in the supermarket industry, to buy union, too. FLOC is calling on Kroger to stop selling Mt. Olive Pickles, made from cucumbers harvested by non-union workers in North Carolina.
Nineteen Kroger stores in Northwest Ohio stopped selling Mt. Olive Pickles in March 2000. Last May Kroger stores in the Columbus region pulled the brand from their shelves, bringing the total to more than 100 stores.
When FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez and the Cincinnati FLOC Support Committee march to Kroger headquarters Friday, they will demand local stores do the same.
No way to treat a guest
Three years ago, FLOC launched a boycott of Mt. Olive Pickles after the North Carolina-based company refused to negotiate a union contract with growers and farm workers. Mt. Olive says it’s inappropriate for the company to interfere in growers’ labor relations. Kroger respects the rights of workers to organize and be represented by unions, according to company spokesman Gary Rhodes. But the dispute between FLOC and Mt. Olive involves neither Kroger nor its customers, Rhodes says.
Kroger stores in the Columbus region didn’t stop selling Mt. Olive Pickles because of the boycott but for economic reasons, according to Rhodes.
“Based on a business decision, the pickle brand was not among the top sellers,” he says.
Rhodes says he isn’t aware of any plans to pull Mt. Olive Pickles from other Kroger stores.
About 12,000 workers, mostly from Mexico and Central America, harvest cucumbers in North Carolina for Mt. Olive. FLOC says workers often live in substandard housing and work long hours for low wages. Velasquez calls farm worker conditions “excruciatingly bad.”
North Carolina state officials inspect housing prior to workers’ arrival and follow up on their own or in response to complaints. But underfunded and understaffed state agencies can’t provide enough protection for workers, according to FLOC.
Farm worker conditions are “unregulated and irregular,” says FLOC organizer Nick Wood.
“Most housing is not suitable for people to live in,” he says.
Wood cites cases of 12 people living in a two-bedroom trailer and five living in a single room.
It’s hard for workers to file complaints from isolated farm camps, FLOC says, and state agencies don’t have enough bilingual staff.
Under federal law, agricultural workers don’t have the right to union representation. Farm workers can organize, but they may be fired for union activity and their employer is not required to bargain with them.
About half of the workers harvesting cucumbers for Mt. Olive are employed through the federal H-2A program, which allows farmers to hire temporary foreign workers during labor shortages. These “guest workers” are covered by wage laws and are entitled to workers’ compensation, but they are tied to their employers.
In May 1997, FLOC asked Mt. Olive to negotiate a union contract with its growers and farm workers, similar to FLOC’s multi-party contracts in Ohio and Michigan with farms supplying Vlasic Foods International and H.J. Heinz. The union says more than 4,000 workers in North Carolina have signed cards authorizing FLOC to negotiate on their behalf.
A ‘minor crop’
Growers can’t improve farm workers’ conditions without help from Mt. Olive, according to FLOC. The growers “don’t have any money in their pockets,” Velasquez says. Mt. Olive has the “power and authority” to negotiate to improve work conditions in North Carolina fields, he says.
The company has quality control demands for farmers.
“But they won’t say anything about the workers,” Velasquez says.
Mt. Olive, the biggest-selling brand of pickles in the Southeast, buys about one-third of its cucumbers in North Carolina. Company spokeswoman Lynn Williams says Mt. Olive supports the fair treatment of farmers and farm workers. Mt. Olive’s Ohio cucumbers come from unionized farms.
All major pickle companies purchase cucumbers in North Carolina, but none require their suppliers to sign contracts with FLOC, according to Mt. Olive. The company has identified reputable suppliers that buy from growers who comply with state and federal regulations, Williams says.
Bill Bryan, president of Mt. Olive, refuses to negotiate with FLOC. The company says FLOC’s multi-party bargaining process in Ohio does not involve real participation from pickle companies.
“We believe farmers and farm workers have the right to decide for themselves whether a union is in their best interest,” Williams says.
Mt. Olive supports broad-based efforts to improve conditions in the agricultural industry. Cucumbers are a “minor crop” in North Carolina, so it’s important to look at conditions across the board, Williams says.
“A consensus-built solution is far more effective than singling out one company in a divisive boycott,” she says.
Velasquez calls Mt. Olive’s broad-based efforts a “welfare solution.”
“We’re not talking about unemployed people,” Velasquez says. “Hard working people should receive a fair wage and not rely on the public for handouts.”
FLOC has received “tremendous support” in Cincinnati, according to Velasquez. The Mt. Olive Pickle boycott has gained endorsements from the AFL-CIO, Cincinnati Region AFSCME Ohio Council 8, the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice and Cincinnati Archbishop Daniel Pilarczyk.
FLOC is also getting support from students. Velasquez recently spoke to about 100 students, faculty and neighbors at Miami University. Blake Pendergrass of Miami University Students and Staff Against Sweatshops says about 40 people signed up to help support FLOC.
“We’re all tied into the same system that encourages exploitation of the very people we depend on for our food,” Pendergrass says. “We have the obligation to support farm workers’ struggles and call for Mt. Olive to do the right thing.” ©
This article appears in Mar 20-26, 2002.