CIW Presents Publix with a Declaration of Farmworker Rights Based on the New Code of Conduct Publix Refuses to Support

Whereas no one should be forced to surrender their dignity in order to feed their family,

Whereas “all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (UDHR, Article 1),

Whereas “no one shall be held in slavery or servitude” (UDHR, Article 4),

Whereas “everyone who works has the right to just and favorable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity” (UDHR, Article 23, Section 3),

Whereas these fundamental and universal rights – among others – have been routinely violated in the agricultural industry,

Whereas through the Campaign for Fair Food, farmworkers and consumers have forged a path toward the full recognition of human rights in this nation's agricultural fields,

Whereas nine leading food corporations along with virtually the entire Florida tomato industry have agreed to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to set in motion unprecedented changes which have brought the dawn of a new day in the fields, including:

• A raise in the tomato picking piece rate which had been stagnant for 30 years;
  
  
• The right to speak out against unsafe and abusive working conditions without fear of retaliation;
  
  
• The right to work free from forced labor,

Whereas Publix refuses to work with the CIW to guarantee and enforce these new rights, thereby threatening to undermine these unprecedented yet fragile gains,

We call on Publix to end its inexplicable and unconscionable refusal to safeguard fair and safe working conditions in its supply chain and just compensation for the men and women who toil daily to harvest our food and who make Publix's astronomical growth and profits possible.