Publix Picketed Over Pickles
Mexican farm workers want food chain to stop selling Mt. Olive brand.
| Migrant farm workers march from St. Joseph's Catholic Church on Lemon Street to Publix Super Markets' information technology building in downtown Lakeland on Friday. PIERRE DuCHARME/The Ledger |
By Adrian Zawada
The Ledger
LAKELAND -- About 40 protesters pierced the everyday tranquility of downtown Lakeland on Friday afternoon, protesting
Publix Super Markets' business contract with Mt. Olive pickles and trying to raise awareness on migrant worker issues.
Waving the red and black flags of the Toledo, Ohio-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee, the crowd of activists,
Mexican migrant workers and University of Florida college students marched from St. Joseph's Catholic Church on Lemon Street t
o the Publix's information technology building downtown.
Standing outside the Publix offices on 321 S. Kentucky Ave., the marchers loudly shouted slogans in English and Spanish,
demanding that the supermarket chain discontinue selling Mt. Olive pickles.
"Hey Publix, save yourself, take Mt. Olive off your shelf!," the protesters chanted as FLOC national president Baldemar Velasquez
brought a brochure to Publix management asking the company to remove Mt. Olive pickles from its shelves.
Publix spokesman Lee Brunson said the company doesn't get involved in labor disputes between its suppliers and their unions.
"We provide products on our shelves that customers want," Brunson said.
FLOC, which is part of the AFL-CIO, wants a three-way labor agreement with the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. in North Carolina and its
cucumber suppliers in order to improve the wages and living conditions of migrant farm workers who harvest cucumbers,
Velasquez said.
Mt. Olive profits from the death and suffering of immigrant workers, said Leticia Zavala, a Plant City-based FLOC organizer, referring to
the deaths of farm workers Raymundo Hernandez and Urbano Ramirez in North Carolina.
"The system of procurement is evil," Velasquez said. "It oppresses migrant workers and H2-A (temporary agricultural) workers,
and people die in the fields."
FLOC has also targeted Mt. Olive because it dominates the Southern market in pickles, and Southern states have weak union
representation.
"The history of other industries, like manufacturing, shows us if we don't organize in the South, companies will shift production to
take advantage of lower standards of pay and working conditions," according to FLOC's Web site.
Mt. Olive will not negotiate with Velasquez and FLOC because its policy is that union representation is a matter between laborers
and their employers, said Lynn Williams, the community relations representative for Mt. Olive.
The pickle maker buys cucumbers from independent suppliers and farmers in more than nine states and two foreign countries,
but one-third of its cucumber supplies are grown in North Carolina.
"Mt. Olive purchases raw materials from many producers, including glass, cap, sweetener, vinegar and salt suppliers," Williams said.
"In every case, these suppliers and their employees determine the question of union representation wholly independent of influence
from Mt. Olive. Our North Carolina cucumber suppliers and their employees should have that same right."
For example, Williams said, Mt. Olive conducts business with an Ohio-based cucumber supplier that has operated under a
FLOC contract since 1997.
The company also vigorously supports good employment practices and working conditions for farm workers, she said.
Mt. Olive dictates many of the growing practices at its suppliers' farms and has the power to change them, according to FLOC's
position. Individual farmers don't have the power to change industry practices.
Before the march at St. Joseph's, Velasquez, Zavala and Rob Williams of Florida Rural Legal Services voiced support for
President Bush's proposal to provide temporary legal status to millions of illegal aliens in the United States.
There are 1.8 million farm workers in the United States, Williams said, but between 60 percent and 70 percent don't have
legal status.
"It's time to recognize those people who are here, part of society, and give them the same rights as everyone in society,"
Williams said.
The dozen or so Mexican migrant workers who took part in the march were there to show their support for FLOC and migrant
worker issues in general.
Plant City strawberry picker Margarito Torres, 28, said obtaining driver licenses is a big concern for undocumented migrant workers.
Nancy Powers, a consultant for farmworker affairs for the Florida Catholic Conference, said migrant workers activists are pushing
for driver licenses so migrant workers can function in society.
"From the Catholic Church perspective, we support farmworkers because of our respect for human dignity, regardless of immigration
status," Powers said. "The common good is served when there are more licensed and trained drivers."
Powers estimated there are 700,000 illegal aliens in Florida.
Augustin Chavez, 45, said he came to America when he was 13 years old as an illegal migrant worker and spent his youth harvesting l
ettuce in many states, and picking lemons, tomatoes and mangoes in Florida.
He said he's now a truck driver and a U.S. citizen with a family, but lately he senses that Americans have become suspicious of immigrants.
"I like to support this cause because Latinos need to get more consideration," Chavez said. "Lately, they see us and think we're terrorists.
We're not. We're here to work."
About 10 University of Florida students participated in the march as part of their Alternative Spring Break during which they became
involved in social causes and spent time with migrant families instead of partying in Mexico.
Among the things they did was pick strawberries alongside the workers. "We were all pretty sore afterwards," said Brian Gadbois, 19.
"It was pretty hard work."
