A project of BCJN’s Food Justice Working Group
TAKE ACTION
BCJN members distribute the following flyer at Bronx farmers markets and CSA’s (Community-Supported Agriculture):
Dear NYC Farmers Market and/or CSA customer:
As you enjoy the pleasures of healthy produce from New York State farms, please learn about and take action for the farmworkers whose labor puts beautiful fruits and vegetables on your family’s table.
A few facts you may not know:
NY farmworkers are the backbone of the state’s multi-billion dollar agricultural industry, but are excluded from basic labor protections granted to other workers under state and federal law. For our farmworkers, there is:
NO Day of Rest NO Overtime Pay NO Collective Bargaining
These exclusions leave farmworkers powerless, vulnerable, and ripe for exploitation. Because many NY state farmworkers, including many on small- and medium-sized farms in the Hudson Valley, are Latin American migrants here on visas sponsored by their employers, they are reluctant to ask for better treatment.
Concerned about your grocery bill? Don’t be. If the cost of ensuring fair wages and benefits for workers were passed on to consumers, the average household’s grocery bill would increase by about $10 per year.
Take a stand for farmworkers:
- Urge your state Assemblyperson and Senator to co-sponsor and actively support S. 2721/A. 4189, the Farmworkers Fair Labor Practices Act.
The bill would establish an 8-hour workday; provide overtime pay of at least time-and-a-half after 8 hours of work; allow one day of rest per week; grant the right to organize & bargain collectively; ensure that housing facilities meet basic standards including structurally safe buildings, clean water, adequate light & ventilation, and facilities for sewage disposal; require employers to provide compensation benefits to injured workers; require supervisors who learn that a farmworker is injured on the job to inform the farm owner; and more.
- Talk to the farmers at your Farmers Market and CSA: Inquire about their workers and their working and living conditions. Ask farm owners to support S. 2721/A. 4189.
- Join the Food Justice Working Group of Bronx Climate Justice North. For more info, email: bronxclimatejusticenorth@gmail.com.
Thank you on behalf of NY farmworkers! Si se puede!
***
Related links:
See the BCJN post, “The Worm in the Empire Apple” in the Rural & Migrant Ministry blog Witness, 5/25/15, and “Fair Treatment for Farmworkers,” in The Riverdale Press, 6/11/15.
For a superb book on the living and working conditions of farmworkers and their families on small- and medium-sized farms in the Hudson Valley, please read Margaret Gray’s 2013 work, Labor and the Locavore: The Making of a Comprehensive Food Ethic.
***
Members of the Justice for Farmworkers Campaign
Kerry Kennedy, Founder, Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights
Rev. Richard Witt, Executive Director of the Rural & Migrant Ministry
New York City Civil Liberties Union
Worker Justice Center
Labor-Religion Coalition of NY State
New York State AFL-CIO
New York State United Teachers AFT AFL-CIO
AFGE Local 2313, NCFLL
Association of Farmworkers Legal Services Employees NOLSW, LOCAL 2320
Capital District Area Federations
Capital District Labor-Religion Coalition
Domestic Workers United
National Association of Social Workers
Finger Lake Central Labor Council
Greater Syracuse Labor Council, AFL-CIO
Worker Justice Center for NY, Albany
UNITE HERE (Union of Needle Trades, Industrial and Textile Employees)
United Food And Commercial Workers
Hudson Valley Area Labor Federation Upper Hudson Central Labor Council
1199 SEIU
CSEA Local 265
CSEA Local 828, Rochester
Hilton Central Schools Teacher Association
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Local 2741
New York State United Teachers, Western Regional Office
Newark Teachers Association
Office and Professional Employees International Union Local 212
District Council #4 Painters and Allied Trades International Union
Peace & Disarmament Committee, Local 199, C.A.W.
Rochester Labor Council
Service Employees International Union Local 200 United
Spencerport Teacher’s Association
Teamsters Local 118, Rochester
The American Postal Workers Union Local 215, AFL-CIO
United Auto Workers 686 Niagara County
United Auto Workers 1097 Rochester
United Mine Workers of America Local 717
United Steel Workers of American Local 1000
United Steel Workers of America Local 9265, Latham
Wheatland-Chili Federation of Teachers
Civil Service Employees Association, Inc., Latham
National Association of Letter Carriers Br. 210
New York State Public Employment Federation Division 283
Rochester Teachers Association, NYSUT-AFT
United Steelworkers of America Local 1277, Syracuse
National Association of Letter Carriers Br. 210
Western New York Regional Office of the New York State United Teachers
Olean Area Labor-Religion Coalition
Painters District Council #4
Peace and Disarmament Committee Local 199 CAW
PEF Division 283
Rochester Teachers Association, NYSUT-AFT
Teamsters Local 118, Rochester
American Postal Workers Union, Rochester Local 215
UAW 686 Niagara County
UNITE Rochester Regional Joint Board
United Food and Commercial Workers Local One
Upper Hudson Valley Central Labor Council
United Presbytarian Church of Downtown Rochester
American Baptist of New York State
New York Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
New York State Catholic Conference
New York State Conference of the United Church of Christ
Albany and Hudson Presbyteries
Mid-Hudson/Union Association of American Baptists
Catholic Charities of Montgomery and Fulton County
The Episcopal Diocese of NY
The Episcopal Diocese of Rochester
Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany
Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester
Adult Education Class at Nativity Parish, Brockport
Brockport Ecunemenical Outreach Committee
Capital Region Ecumenical Organization
Calvary Presbyterian Church in Newburgh
Christ Episcopal Church, Poughkeepsie
Christ Episcopal Church, Redhook
Church of the Holy Apostles, NYC
Church of the Holy Communion, Mahopac
Church Women United, Buffalo
Cornwall Presbyterian Church
Episcopal Church of the Misseah, Rhinebeck
Episcopal Church of the Regeneration, Pine Plains
First Baptist Church of White Plains
First Presbyterian Church, Goshen
First Presbyterian Church, Kathonah
First Presbyterian Church, Pleasant Valley
First Presbyterian Church, Poughkeepsie
First Presbyterian Church, Seneca Falls
First Presbyterian Church, Wappingers Falls
First Unitarian Church of Rochester Social Responsibility Council
Freedom Plains Presbyterian Church, Poughkeepsie
Gilead Presbrytarial Church, Carmel
Grace Episcopal Church, Middletown
Grace Episcopal Church, Millbrook
Grace Episcopal Church, Port Jervis
Greater Rochester Community of Churches
Hitchcock Presbyterian Church, Scarsdale
Holy Cross Church, Dewitt
The House of Mercy, Rochester
Housing, Hunger and Homelessness Task Force,Rochester
Huguenot Presbyterian Church, Pelham
Justice Strategy Team DUPC
Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, Brooklyn
Renew Group of Nativity BVM, Brockport
San Andres Episcopal Church, Yonkers
Sauquoit Valley United Methodist Church
Franciscan Center for Service and Advocacy
Sister of St. Joseph, Albany Province Assembly
Sister of St. Joseph, Buffalo
Sister of St. Joseph, Rochester
Catholic Community of Saint Henry
Spiritus Christi Church of Rochester
Saint John the Evangelist Church
St. Joseph’s House of Hospitality
Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, South Fallsburgh
St. Francis Xavier Peace and Justice Committee, NYC
St. James Episcopal Church, Goshen
St. James Episcopal Church, Hyde Park
St. James Episcopal Church, Getty Square Yonkers
St. John’s Church (Getty Square), Yonkers, NY
New York State Conference of the United Church of Christ
New York Annual Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
Synod of New York, Reformed Church of America
Buddhist Peace Fellowship
Catholic Charities of Montgomery County
Catholic Charities, Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany
Catholic Daughters of America Court #931
Catholic Family Center, Office of Social Policy, Rochester
Church, Society and Mission Team of First United Methodist
Church, Schenectady
Episcopal Church of the Intercession, NYC
Episcopal Church, Province II, New York State Public Policy
Network
First Presbyterian Church of Ossining
Franciscans of Stella Niagara
Hudson River Presbytery
Interfaith Alliance of Rochester
Interfaith Impact of New York State
New Hackensack Reformed Church, Wappingers Falls
New York Annual Conference of United Methodists Task Force on
Immigration
New York Catholic Conference
Pax Christi of Western New York
Presbytery of Albany
Public Policy Committee of the Roman Catholic Diocese of
Rochester
Riverside Salem United Church of Christ, Grant Island
Christ Episcopal Church, Poughkeepsie
University of Rochester, Catholic Newman Community
Christ United Methodist Church, Beacon
United Methodist Church of Fishkill
The Zen Center, Rochester
Episcopal Church of Christ the King, Stone Ridge
The Martha Ministry of Nativity Blessed Virgin Mary Church, Brockport
The First Baptist Church of White Plains
St. Thomas Episcopal Church, New Windsor
St. Paul’s Universalist Church of Little Falls
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Yonkers
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Poughkeepsie
St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Pleasant Valley
St. Paul the Apostle, Social Awareness Forum, Schenectady
St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church, Staatsburg
St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Fairport
St. Joseph University Church, Buffalo
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Ellenville
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Monticello
St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingston
St. John’s Church, Utica
Americans United for the Separation of Church & State
BOCES Geneseo Migrant Center, Mt. Morris
Cayuga/Seneca Community Action Agency Inc.
Center for Dispute Settlement, Rochester
Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Council of Canadians, Niagara Chapter
Ciudad Hermana Task Force of MetroJustice
Dutchess Peace Coalition
Education for Peace, Inc.
Federation of Monroe County Environmentalists
Fellowship of Reconciliation, Racism and
Economic Justice Program, Hudson Valley Ch.
Food Not Bombs, Poughkeepsie
Genesee Valley American Civil Liberties Union
Genesee Valley Citizens for Peace
Green Party of Monroe County
Green Party of Erie County
Hispanic Outreach Services of Amsterdam
Judicial Process Commission, Rochester
Latin American Cultural Association “El Buen Amigo” of Buffalo
Latin Solidarity Committee, Buffalo
Metro Justice of Rochester Inc.
Moving Beyond Racism, Rochester
National Labor Committee, NYC
New York Civil Liberties Union, Capital Region
New York Immigration Coalition
Planned Parenthood of Rochester/Syracuse
Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign
Public Interest Law Office of Rochester
Rochester Committee on Latin America
Rochester Human Rights Day Committee
Rochester Roots
Saratoga Peace Alliance
Sierra Club, Rochester
Steuben County Green Party
The Working Together Group
Tompkins County Workers’ Center
United Nations Association of Rochester
Wayne Action for Racial Equality
Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health
Western New York Peace Center, Buffalo
Amnesty International- SUNY
Amnesty International- University of Rochester
Bard College Fair Labor Organizing Committee
Bard Political Action Organization, Bard College
Catholic Newman Community, U. Rochester
Committee on U.S.-Latin American Relations (Cornell)
Cornell University Organization for Labor Action
The Environmental Collective, Bard College
Friends of Farm Workers, Cornell University
Hunger Action (Vassar College)
Immigrant Farmworker Initiative, Cornell University
National Lawyers Guild, Cornell University
Rondout Valley High School Synthesis/Diversity Club
Student Actions with Farmworkers
Worker Center of Central NY
Food Chain Worker Alliance
Human Rights Watch
B’nai Jeshurun Synagogue
Bronx Climate Justice North
Bronx Climate Justice North 