The Gainesville Interfaith Alliance for Immigrant Justice, alongside various religious and community leaders, spoke out for Immokalee workers’ rights at a press conference Friday.
Thirteen people were in attendance, including pastors, activists and one UF student. The group gathered outdoors at University Lutheran Church, 1826 W. University Blvd., to publicly release a letter speaking out against Publix Super Markets for refusing to pay tomato pickers an extra cent per pound of tomatoes. Forty-three religious leaders from the Gainesville and Ocala area signed the letter, including rabbis, imams and pastors.
“Every other food giant — Taco Bell, Burger King — have all agreed to the penny more per pound. Why Publix refuses to do this is beyond us, beyond me, and that’s why we’re here,” said Philip Kellerman, president of Gainesville-based Harvest of Hope Foundation.
Victor Yengle, a 23-year-old economics senior, fasted during UF’s Spring Break outside of Publix’s Lakeland headquarters last semester to call attention to the issue.
Yengle said this particular labor issue stems from the fact that farm workers are prohibited by law from forming unions and generally have limited bargaining power.
When growers agree to large-quantity contracts with commercial buyers such as Publix, he said, laborers are often required to harvest during unsafe conditions, like when pesticides are being sprayed and during lighting storms.
He said raising the price of tomatoes and thereby increasing workers’ yearly salaries would be a major step toward correcting the system.
Activist groups have already made headway in reforming the labor situation in the tomato industry, said Richard MacMaster, a member of Interfaith Alliance for Immigrant Justice’s Steering Committee. In 2005, the labor organization Coalition of Immokalee Workers persuaded Taco Bell and its parent company to agree to the additional cent.
“We know Publix will cave,” said the Rev. Andy Bachmann of the United Church of Gainesville. “We just don’t know when. Until then, the resentment [among consumers] will continue to build.”
On Sunday, Dwaine Stevens, Publix spokesman for North Florida, was unable to be reached by phone for comment.
