National Week of Action Nov. 18-25: Grocery Campaign
Commencing with candelight vigils across the country on November 18, marking the anniversary of workers’ escape from slavery in Florida in 2007. November 18-25 is a National Week of Action to call on the supermarket industry to be part of the solution to farmworker poverty and slavery. Publix, Kroger, and Ahold (owner of Stop & Shop and Giant) have yet to work with the CIW to enforce zero tolerance for modern-day slavery and a code of conduct against human rights abuses in the fields. From Nov. 18 to 25 we invite you to join with people across the country in delivering letters to the manager of a supermarket near you.
During this same week farmworkers from Immokalee will travel throughout Florida to call on Publix Super Markets to ensure dignity and justice in the fields. Nov. 18 to 25 is the week leading up to Thanksgiving and is the perfect time to discuss your concern for those who make the food we enjoy possible. Even if you have already delivered a letter, we invite you to take a moment to follow-up with the manager and express your concern for those who harvest our crops. Get a manager letter for a supermarket in your area.
Grocery Campaign: Call on Kroger, Ahold and Publix to work with the CIW
In November of 2007 and 2008, the PC(USA), along with many other institutions of faith and conscience, sent letters to major grocery, restaurant and foodservice corporations, including Kroger, Ahold and Publix, urging them to work with the CIW to address exploitation in the fields of their Florida tomato suppliers. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has also written letters to these grocery companies requesting that they meet and work with them to address exploitative wages and working conditions.
Tomato pickers toil long days for 45 cents per 32-lb bucket of tomatoes, with no right to overtime pay, no health insurance, no sick leave, no paid vacation and no right to organize to improve these conditions. In the most extreme cases, workers are held against their will and forced to work in modern-day slavery rings. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) has worked with the U.S. Department of Justice and FBI to investigate and help successfully prosecute seven cases of slavery in recent years, freeing more than 1,000 slaves.
The PC(USA) has been instrumental in helping the CIW in reaching groundbreaking agreements with Yum! Brands (Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut and others), McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, Whole Foods Market and Bon Appétit foodservice to
- pay a penny per pound increase to farmworkers harvesting for suppliers of these companies and
- work with the CIW to develop a human-rights-based code of conduct to address abuses in the fields, which includes a zero tolerance policy for modern-day slavery.
- ensure a voice for farmworkers in monitoring improvements and reporting abuses.
We are insisting that three prominent grocery chains, Kroger, Ahold, and Publix, do just what these other food giants have already done — forge agreements with the CIW that embrace these principles. While you may not recognize the name Ahold, you will recognize its subsidiaries, Stop ‘n Shop and Giant; the same with Kroger, which owns Dillons and many, many other chains. The CEOs of these grocery companies are the decision-makers on these sorts of matters for their local chains.
How You Can Help
You can help by sending postcards to the CEO of the corporation whose grocery store is in your neighborhood. We have found that companies are very alert to what their consumer base communicates to them. Your witness matters. To order postcards email the Rev. Noelle Damico or call (631) 751-7076.
Generally, Kroger and its brands cover the West, Midwest and South. Ahold and its subsidiaries cover the Northeast. And Publix predominates in Florida and throughout the Southeast. (You are, of course, welcome to send postcards to all three companies!)
Kroger is based in Cincinnati but has 2,479 stores in 31 states under the following brands: Kroger, Ralph's, King Soopers, Food 4 Less, Fry's, Dillons, City Market, Fred Meyer, Smith's, Foods Co., Hilander, Jay C, Pay Less, Owen's, Scott's, Gerbes, QFC.
Ahold is based in The Netherlands, and their U.S. office is in Quincy, Mass. They own 704 stores in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic under the following brands: Stop & Shop, Giant Foods and Martin’s.
Publix is based in Lakelands, Fla., and owns stores throughout Florida and the Southeast.
Take a small delegation of members from your church to meet with the manager of your local Kroger-, Publix- or Ahold–owned grocery store. Explain that you are from a local Presbyterian congregation and that you care about how the food that you purchase is produced. You are concerned about the poverty wages and, in extreme instances, the slavery conditions faced by farmworkers harvesting tomatoes in Florida and want that grocery store to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to address this exploitation as other food buyers have already done. Download a manager’s letter for the appropriate local store owned by Kroger, Ahold or Publix and take it with you. Urge the manager to pass on this communication to the CEO.
Ahold Stores Manager Letters
Stop ‘n Shop Manager Letter 
Giant Foods Manager Letter
Martin’s Manager Letter
Publix Stores Manager Letter
Kroger Stores Manager Letter
Send an email to Kroger
People of faith are invited to send an email to the CEO of Kroger grocery chain urging the company to work with the CIW to improve workers wages and address modern-day slavery in the fields. With today’s announcement that East Coast Growers and Packers will work with CIW and major food retailers to fully implement the fair food agreements, this is a perfect moment to insist that, as a leading grocery company owning over 32 chains across the nation, Kroger needs to do its part.
Sojourner’s has provided an email that can be quickly sent and also customized with your own message. Send an email to Kroger today. |
