March: Farmworkers protest wages, working conditions for tomato pickers

Sunday, March 5, 2000

By MIKE SCHNEIDER, Associated Press

ORLANDO - Three dozen farmworkers, joined by nearly 200 supporters, finished a 15-day march Saturday from Fort Myers to the Orlando headquarters of the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association to protest the wages and working conditions of tomato pickers.

The 230-mile march was only the latest in a series of actions members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers have undertaken in an effort to get Florida's tomato growers to talk to them. The coalition isn't a union but is seeking some collective bargaining powers.

Last December, members of the coalition engaged in a work stoppage and two seasons ago six tomato pickers went on a hunger strike that gained the attention of former President Jimmy Carter.

"What we want first is a dialogue with the growers," said Lucas Benitez, a coalition leader.

Added Laura Germino, a march coordinator: "They're not asking for overtime. They're not asking for vacation time ... They're asking for the right to talk to their bosses for a decent wage."

Officials with the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association refused to meet with the marchers Saturday, saying they're not in a position to represent the growers on this issue.

"We've been told by our membership that it isn't in our place," said Ray Gilmer, communication's director of the growers' association. "That's between the workers and their employers."

Juan Perez's feet were sore from the long journey and he shaded his face from the fierce sun with a poster, but the 42-year-old tomato picker from Guatemala said he was glad he made the march.

"I want to show the growers that we're not treated well," he said.

The marchers began their trek on Feb. 19 in Fort Myers, following a flatbed truck that blasted salsa and ranchero music from a megaphone. They were fed and sheltered by church groups along the route.

On Saturday, they were led by a truck carrying a paper-mache replica of the Statute of Liberty holding a basket of tomatoes. The marchers walked three miles up busy State Road 50 in downtown Orlando dressed in baby blue T-shirts and waving American and Mexican flags.

A police escort stopped traffic as they marched in the road's right-hand lane, some carrying signs that said "Greed Greed Shameful Greed" and "Farmworkers Feed Your Family." Motorists honked as they passed the marchers.

When they arrived at the FFVA's stucco headquarters, they sang songs, prayed and then taped a 10-point petition on the headquarters' door demanding fair wages and respect. Other marchers passed out petitions urging Gov. Jeb Bush and state officials to intervene.

They also distributed lapel pins attached to a penny, which they said is all it would cost consumers per pound of tomatoes to raise the wages of farmworkers to livable standards.

Immokalee farmworkers are paid between 40 cents and 45 cents per 35-pound bucket, a rate that hasn't changed in two decades, and they generally make no more than $9,000 a year, coalition officials said. The farmworkers would need to earn 75 cents per bucket to earn a livable wage, Germino said.

"The U.S. economy is in a boom. I don't see why the farmworkers can't get a piece of that boom," said Oscar Elizundia, Miami-based consul general of Mexico, who marched with the workers. Most of the farmworkers are from Mexico, Guatemala and Haiti.

But Gilmer said tomato growers at this time can't afford to raise wages.

The growers are earning only $5 to $6 per 25-pound box, while the cost of production is $8 to $9 per box, he said.

Between the months of January and March, Florida produces almost all of the winter tomatoes in the United States.

"This has been a losing year for the tomato industry," he said.