Students for a Democratic Society is rallying today in support of fair wages for Immokalee workers at the grand opening of the new Publix Supermarket in Millhopper Plaza.
SDS organizer Dave Schneider said 10 to 15 people will be outside the store at 8 a.m. for the official opening. A second rally will take place at 5:30 p.m., where representatives from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers will be with the Student/Farmworker Alliance, an independent student group that works to support farm workers nationally.
“This is a great time to bring this issue to the table,” Schneider said.
Schneider said the groups are aiming to put pressure on Publix in order to get a fair wage contract signed.
In the spring, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers campaigned successfully to persuade Aramark, UF’s food provider, to pay workers an extra penny per pound of tomatoes picked, in addition to establishing explicit human rights and anti-slavery provisions.
“It was a really exciting experience,” said Schneider, who participated in the movement in the spring.
“It really broadened our hopes with what we can do with the community.”
