Let me start by saying that I am not anti-capitalist. I have owned my own business (with my
husband), and know that business make decisions based on the bottom line. That’s okay, but it shouldn’t ALWAYS be the
deciding factor. Also, let me add that
for the most part, democracies don’t exist without capitalism. (I know that not all democratic political
systems are capitalistic now, but that is a rant for another day. Don’t even get
me started about the ironies in Capitalism – again another day.) The political economy of capitalism allows the
most freedom for the highest percentage of population. There is also evidence that no political
system can escape rampant cronyism and other forms of graft and corruption. Even with the problems inherent in its
interpretation, America’s constitution has endured longer than any other in
history. Given what I have read about
the problems we are currently facing, it may be time to water the tree of
liberty with the blood of tyrants. It is
in need of manure.
My ex-husband is in love with Walmart. He thinks it is the glorious
epitome of America. While I have eyed it suspiciously over the years, thinking
that it is more the evil empire than Russia, I have also shopped there. The prices are lower due to their ability to
utilize the economies of scale. What
happens though when they are the only option for cheap crap in a community?? I
doubt that crap will remain cheap when they are the ONLY business in town. If I was Walmart, I would raise my prices
where I could so that I can beat out other markets where margins are
tighter. Then, when I have destroyed the
competition, I would establish larger profit margins. Just saying… capitalism and all that.
This is similar to what is happening to the farm workers in
Florida. Big businesses are very much in
control of what they can ask of farmers. Farmers need big business to buy their
product. They are willing to cut corners
and morality to do so. These farmworkers
are not asking much, a penny per pound for their labor. That is something most of us won’t notice
over the course of the year. Here is
some information presented on the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) webpage.
(http://ciw-online.org/)
•Like textile workers at the turn of the last century,
Florida tomato harvesters are still paid by the piece. The average piece rate
today is 50 cents for every 32-lbs of tomatoes they pick, a rate that has
remained virtually unchanged since 1980. As a result of that stagnation, a
worker today must pick more than 2.25 tons of tomatoes to earn minimum wage in
a typical 10-hour workday -- nearly twice the amount a worker had to pick to
earn minimum wage thirty years ago, when the rate was 40 cents per bucket. Most
farmworkers today earn less than $12,000 a year.
•In a January 2001 letter to members of Congress, the U.S. Department
of Labor described farmworkers as "a labor force in significant economic
distress," citing farmworkers' "low wages, sub-poverty annual
earnings, [and] significant periods of un- and underemployment" to support
its conclusions.
•As a result of intentional exclusion from key New Deal
labor reform measures, farmworkers do not have the right to overtime pay, nor
the right to organize and collectively bargain with their employers.
•In the most extreme conditions, farmworkers are held
against their will and forced to work for little or no pay, facing conditions
that meet the stringent legal standards for prosecution under modern-day
slavery statutes. Federal Civil Rights officials have successfully prosecuted
seven slavery operations involving over 1,000 workers in Florida’s fields since
1997, prompting one federal prosecutor to call Florida "ground zero for
modern-day slavery." In 2010, federal prosecutors indicted two more forced
labor rings operating in Florida.
The Alliance for Fair Food (really, what a great name – who can
be against fair food?) works toward increasing the pay of farmworkers, removing
modern-day slavery conditions on farms, and creating a code of conduct of fair
treatment for farm workers. Sounds good
to me, who wouldn’t want those rights?
Remember these guys working in the field not only have long hot days in
the sun they also have to work with pesticides and dangerous farm
equipment. They don’t make minimum
wage or overtime, and let’s not even go into benefits. How is that fair? What really surprised me
were the claims of slavery. My first
thought was that this was another over-blown liberal assault on business owners. I was wrong.
Florida farmers have been prosecuted for slavery, as recently as 2010. Like the company stores of long ago,
these farmers hold the migrant workers in debt and furthermore, some farmers have physically CHAINED workers inside box
trucks. How is this possible in America
today? The cost of our food just got a
lot higher, and it had nothing to do with price.
We have really cheap food in America. Now, when I go to the supermarket, I am not grateful
that it costs me $400 to fill the cart.
The costs have been increasing lately too. As a nation, though, we spend less of our
income on food than we have before. The
Economic Research Service for the United States Department of Agriculture
published a report that states in 2010 Americans spend 9.4% of their
disposable income on food. In 1929, we
spent 23.4% on food. (http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/CPIFoodAndExpenditures/Data/Expenditures_tables/table7.htm) The more I read
the more I am REALLY concerned about where my food comes from and how it’s
handled.
So, why pick on the grocery stores when they are not the ones
hurting the farm workers? Because they
are in a position to do something about it.
I have worked in customer service in one way or another all my life (really
aren’t more jobs involved in customer service at some point? Even if the ‘customer’ is only your
boss). The gold rule of customer service
is that the customer is always right. The
CIW has signed accords with McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, Whole Foods
Market, Compass Group, Aramark, Sodexo and Bon Appetit Management Company. They are asking for the grocery stores to
agree as well. Publix and Walmart are
giant buyers of tomatoes. They can
demand better treatment for the farm workers.
Since they are giant buyers, they will likely get what they ask
for. Publix touts that doing the right
thing is a top priority for them. In a
profile of the CEO in Tampa Bay’s Business Journal, Ed Crenshaw said that
controlling prices was also a top priority for them. I do not believe that standing by and
supporting a system of abuse like this is an effective means of controlling
prices. As for me, I will not buy
produce from Publix until stands behind ‘doing the right thing’ and makes an
effort to bring some fair treatment for workers instead of just saying the words.
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