Author: Oliver Field
Thirty Occidental students participated in a rally outside of Trader Joe’s headquarters in Monrovia on Friday, Oct. 21, in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), an organization working to improve conditions for farm workers in Florida’s tomato fields.
Nearly 400 students, farmworkers and community members picketed a Huntington chain and marched toward the headquarters in an attempt to raise awareness and coerce Trader Joe’s into signing a fair food agreement that raises wages by one cent for every pound picked and institutes workplace standards.
Companies like McDonalds, Subway, Burger King, Irvine-based Taco Bell and Whole Foods Market have already signed agreements with the coalition, prompting questions as to why a company like Trader Joe’s, which has worked hard to earn a reputation as an ethical, fair trade food supplier, won’t sign.
The coalition launched a similar boycott against Taco Bell in 2005, ultimately pressuring the company to sign and comply with their demands. They hope that this protest will have a similar effect.
“We’re asking Trader Joe’s to put their purchasing power behind a certain set of standards that safeguard workers’ human rights,” CIW organizer Marc Rodriguez said.
Student Jordan Delano (junior) was surprised by the reaction the rally received when it arrived at company headquarters.
“Once we got to the Trader Joe’s headquarters, the Trader Joe’s employees were very hostile, they were even shouting out of their windows at us as we arrived. People definitely became disillusioned with Trader Joe’s by their reaction to the protest,” Delano said.
Trader Joe’s released an official statement in May defending their refusal to sign with the CIW.
“Many customers ask why we would not just sign on to a cause that is a simple “Fair Food” approach to selling tomatoes? Unfortunately, the agreement that Trader Joe’s has been asked to sign is overreaching, ambiguous and improper,” the statement read.
The statement went on to detail specific parts of the agreement the company found unreasonable. Point 5 explains why Trader Joe’s finds the agreement overreaching.
“The draft agreement requires Trader Joe’s to terminate any vendor or supplier upon written notice from the CIW. This is one of the reasons for our characterization of ‘overreaching.'”
On Oct. 23, they updated their statement by saying that Trader Joe’s does pay the penny-for-pound that CIW is asking for to farmworkers and is willing to let CIW do audits to verify this.
CIW continues to push for Trader Joe’s to sign on to the legally-binding agreement, saying that without it, Trader Joe’s claims are just words.
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