Farm laborers climb Mt. Olive, get out of a pickle

Salt shakers
October 2004

Farm laborers climb Mt. Olive, get out of a pickle
After a national boycott of more than five years, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, an AFL-CIO affliliated group representing Midwest farm workers, has reached a precedent-setting agreement with the North Carolina Grower's Association (NCGA) and the Mount Olive Pickle Company.

On September 16, 2004, over 8,000 "guest" farm workers in North Carolina became the first such workers in the history of the United States to win union representation and a contract. It will be the largest union contract in North Carolina's history.

The international component of the contract allows the union to oversee the employment of over 8,000 Mexican workers who will come to work in North Carolina with H2A visas through the U.S. Department of Labor. The standards set by this agreement are significant because of the agricultural industry's almost exclusive use of undocumented workers. The agreement will cover over 1000 North Carolina farms.

A side-bar agreement will extend the influence of this agreement as far as Ohio as a pact with the Mount Olive Pickle Company increases wages to workers and prices to growers by over 10 percent over the next three years in settling the more than five year old boycott. Most growers who contract with Mount Olive are also members of the NCGA.

Bill Bryan, President of Mt. Olive Pickles, was onhand for the signing ceremony. He commented, "I'm one pickle packer who is glad to be out of a pickle today.

"Our company is pleased to resolve the boycott with the Farm Labor Organizing Committee. Although I disagree with the boycott tactics, I respect the persistence and dedication [FLOC President] Baldemar Velasquez and FLOC supporters have shown in pursuing their goals."

Mt. Olive is not a party to the FLOC-NCGA agreement, but a number of growers who supply Mt. Olive suppliers are members of the NCGA. As negotiations progressed between FLOC and the NCGA, Mt. Olive and FLOC negotiated a separate agreement to resolve the boycott. In settling the boycott, Mt. Olive agreed to:

• Expand its code of conduct for North Carolina suppliers and growers

• Increase cucumber prices paid to North Carolina and Ohio suppliers by 2.25 percent annually for the next three years

• Provide a 3 percent annual supplement to growers who provide Workers Compensation insurance coverage

"NCGA initiated discussions with the union because it saw an opportunity to strengthen its H-2A program in North Carolina," said Lynn Williams, a spokesperson for Mt. Olive.

"In the past, our company has been unable to resolve the boycott with FLOC because we believe collective bargaining should be a process between employers and employees," she said. "NCGA's decision as an employer to negotiate with FLOC created an opportunity for us to resolve the boycott in a manner consistent with our position."

According to FLOC, the NCGA has been accused of blacklisting workers for supporting the union and for complaining about workers' rights and protections. The agreement between NCGA and FLOC will make the blacklist debate a moot issue through the development of a system of seniority based on number of years worked, growers' requests, and union membership. The contract's non-discrimination clause, a three-step grievance procedure, and camp representatives in labor camps will oversee implementation and protection of workers' rights. FLOC will have union organizers present in Mexico to enforce this agreement and assure the elimination of the blacklist.

The agreement is a new initiative to bring the entire agricultural industry of North Carolina together to work on different issues that require investigation and long-term development. Standing committees with the NCGA and other public entities will improve housing, health care, and examine issues of fair trade in regards to competitive growers and industries that compete with workers and growers under this agreement. The Union and the NCGA will approach the Mexican government together concerning graft, bribery, and blackmail committed by recruiters and Mexican police.

The agreement covers a broad range of crops throughout the entire state from the late days of February to the harvest of the last Christmas trees in November.

FLOC President, Baldemar Velasquez stated, "This agreement will set an important standard to the rest of the agricultural industry. Everyone else almost exclusively utilizes undocumented workers and the conditions of those workers are tragic and shameful."

H-2A worker Jose Hernandez-Coronado said, "We will continue struggling and give it all we got because there is still work to do. We will never forget those that started this, those that made it possible, those workers and leaders who were in the front lines of the campaign and the union. Right now we do it for ourselves and for our families in Mexico, but we also sign this contract for the future generations who will come in the coming years. Hasta la Victoria, somos hermanos en la lucha."

For more on the church and labor:
National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice: http://www.nicwj.org/

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