HAPPY EARTH DAY
Shopping at Whole Foods (near Pine Ridge Road) and 5% of their profits are going to the Friends of Florida Panther Refuge. If you're more local to Coral Springs, you may want to go to their Whole Foods that's doing a WINE TASTING as a fund raiser for the Florida Panther Friends group - April 25 6-8pm. There'll be food and drink and fund-raising going on!!!It's a GREAT way to help Save panthers and support a good cause. HAPPY EARTH DAY!
Namaste!!!
Ann
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Senate Hearing with Immokalee Farmworkers
During yesterday's U.S. Senate hearing, Lucas Benitez of the CIW; Detective Charlie Frost of the Collier County Sheriff's Department Anti-Trafficking Unit; Mary Bauer, Director of the Southern Poverty Law Center; and author Eric Schlosser testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee about the poverty and abuses faced by Florida tomato pickers.
Reggie Brown of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE) also testified before the committee, where many of the FTGE's claims came under intense scrutiny. Senator Richard Durbin asked those in attendance to "join me in doing the math" to examine the growers' claim that farmworkers earn an average of $12.46/hour. He pointed out that to do so workers would have to fill and empty a 32-pound bucket of tomatoes about every two minutes all day long. "Is that possible?" Senator Durbin asked, "I don't think it is." Senator Sanders subsequently asked Mary Bauer of the Southern Poverty Law Center about how easy it is for agricultural employers to falsify wage and hour records. “Very easy,” she replied. After repeated requests, Brown reluctantly agreed to turn payroll records over to the General Accounting Office.
Senator Sanders also questioned Brown about the FTGE's threatened fines for tomato growers that participate in the McDonald's and Yum Brands agreements. Sanders explained that two top law firms found the agreements sound and legal and entered into the record a letter from 26 legal professors specializing in labor law-- including antitrust dimensions of labor standards, who found that "The growers' ostensible concerns over antitrust law are flatly mistaken. The only real antitrust concern would arise if several growers agree among themselves to not participate in the CIW-Yum or CIW-McDonald's monitoring program."
You can see the full report, a link to the hearing and testimonies, and the extensive press coverage at www.ciw-online.org
To read this CNN/ AP article, click here: http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/0f7399f2a97649eed4d4f72a3be3f074.htm
For a detailed analysis of the hearing from The Nation visit http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?bid=7&pid=311097
Senators Kennedy, Durbin, and Sanders all remarked that the hearing marked "just the start" of Congressional inquiry into the wages and conditions faced by Florida tomato pickers. For all the details on the hearing, visit www.ciw-online.org.
Brigitte, Melody, Jordan, and Katie
Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida
Immokalee, FL ~ 239-986-0688
www.interfaithact.org
Reggie Brown of the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE) also testified before the committee, where many of the FTGE's claims came under intense scrutiny. Senator Richard Durbin asked those in attendance to "join me in doing the math" to examine the growers' claim that farmworkers earn an average of $12.46/hour. He pointed out that to do so workers would have to fill and empty a 32-pound bucket of tomatoes about every two minutes all day long. "Is that possible?" Senator Durbin asked, "I don't think it is." Senator Sanders subsequently asked Mary Bauer of the Southern Poverty Law Center about how easy it is for agricultural employers to falsify wage and hour records. “Very easy,” she replied. After repeated requests, Brown reluctantly agreed to turn payroll records over to the General Accounting Office.
Senator Sanders also questioned Brown about the FTGE's threatened fines for tomato growers that participate in the McDonald's and Yum Brands agreements. Sanders explained that two top law firms found the agreements sound and legal and entered into the record a letter from 26 legal professors specializing in labor law-- including antitrust dimensions of labor standards, who found that "The growers' ostensible concerns over antitrust law are flatly mistaken. The only real antitrust concern would arise if several growers agree among themselves to not participate in the CIW-Yum or CIW-McDonald's monitoring program."
You can see the full report, a link to the hearing and testimonies, and the extensive press coverage at www.ciw-online.org
To read this CNN/ AP article, click here: http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/apwire/0f7399f2a97649eed4d4f72a3be3f074.htm
For a detailed analysis of the hearing from The Nation visit http://www.thenation.com/blogs/edcut?bid=7&pid=311097
Senators Kennedy, Durbin, and Sanders all remarked that the hearing marked "just the start" of Congressional inquiry into the wages and conditions faced by Florida tomato pickers. For all the details on the hearing, visit www.ciw-online.org.
Brigitte, Melody, Jordan, and Katie
Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida
Immokalee, FL ~ 239-986-0688
www.interfaithact.org
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