THE TAMPA TRIBUNE
Wednesday January 21, 1998
Hunger strikes Florida's tomato fields
The dispute over wages for tomato picking in Immokalee in Collier County has attracted the attention of former President Jimmy Carter, who is trying to mediate a resolution. But this is no job for the Lone Ranger - others have an obligation to get involved.
The Florida tomato industry has been hurt by the North American Free Trade Agreement, losing badly as Mexican produce streamed across the border when that country's economy foundered. So we know that the growers have been struggling financially, and we sympathize. Agriculture in Florida is a giant portion of the economy and also a part of the state's heritage that needs to be supported and preserved.
At the same time, we understand the insistence of workers in the field, who say they have been picking tomatoes for the same wage for two decades. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has sought a 20-cents-per-box increase in pay. In an effort to put pressure on the growers to bargain, six pickers and supporters went on a hunger strike on Dec. 20, taking in only sugar water, sports drinks, and fruit juices.
The growers initially responded with silence. Since Carter's intervention, they have indicated a willingness to talk.
Three of the fasting protesters dropped out as a result of health problems. The remaining three broke their long fast on Sunday when Carter offered to step in and help seek a solution to the impasse.
A farmer himself, Carter hopes to arrange direct talks between the two sides. We appreciate his interest and hope it proves helpful.
It is easy to oversimplify this situation, casting the growers that feed the rest of us as the bad guys. The ones we have met are honorable people trying to make a living in the face of fierce international competition.
At the same time, the people who pick the fruit and vegetables that Americans enjoy are among the nation's most vulnerable poor, and they work hard for their money.
With a little mathematics, one can see that if they were earning 40 cents a box two decades ago and they are still earning that amount today, they are making an inflation-adjusted wage of 15 cents a box.. What other job pays the same wage today that it did decades ago? Few, if any.
The growers say 40 cents a box is starting pay, and the wages increase as the harvest season progresses and conditions in the field change, making it harder to pick the same amount of tomatoes. And, they say, increasing the picking wage will put the Florida farms at an even worse disadvantage in their competition with growers in other states and Mexico. All this needs to be discussed in the mediation.
The burden of mediating this dispute should not fall only on a former President of the United States from Georgia. Florida has a Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and a Department of Labor and Employment Security, both of which should be on the scene, working to resolve this issue. Our own state leaders need to step forward and mediate this dispute.