TweetNYU students!! Remember a few weeks ago, when there were people protesting outside of Trader Joe’s in Union Square, dressed as tomatoes and belting out their solidarity with immigrant farmworkers? Here’s what that was all about, and what you can do about it. The protesters were representing the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a community-based [...]

NYU students!! Remember a few weeks ago, when there were people protesting outside of Trader Joe’s in Union Square, dressed as tomatoes and belting out their solidarity with immigrant farmworkers? Here’s what that was all about, and what you can do about it. The protesters were representing the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a community-based organization fighting for immigrant workers’ rights in southwest Florida. The NYC Community Farmworker Alliance, which partners with the CIW, also backed the protest. Southwest Florida is one of the U.S.’s most important centers of agricultural production, providing the country with tomatoes, citrus, and other produce throughout the fall and winter months. The workers on these farms work under excruciating conditions, receiving sweatshop-level wages and sometimes no wages; the CIW has broken up 9 cases of modern-day slavery in these fields in the past 12 years. Since most labor laws do not apply to farmworkers, managers are not required to pay workers the minimum wage. Their wages have not been significantly raised since 1970. Trader Joe’s buys produce from these farms, although it markets itself as being ethical and farmer-friendly. The protesters last month, focusing mainly on tomato farms, demanded that TJ’S sign an agreement with the CIW calling for fair working conditions and fair wages. But TJ’s refused to even discuss the matter. That’s why we need the Student Farmworker Alliance at NYU. The Trader Joe's campaign will be the first task of the NYU SFA, but we hope to create a lasting core of NYU students who are dedicated to farmworker justice. A bit of good news: the CIW has already gotten McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, and other giant food corporations to sign agreements with them through their Campaign for Fair Food and their Anti-Slavery Campaign. Those agreements happened through community and student activism. More good news: as NYU students, we have A LOT of power. Trader Joe’s does not own its Union Square space; NYU does. In fact, TJ's was only able to open a location in NYC because NYU rented out that space to them. If we turn up the heat on TJ’s, we’re not only threatening their ethical reputation, but also leveraging power as a powerful business partner. If you want to support the Trader Joe’s campaign and help start the SFA at NYU, "like" this page to get updates on events, meetings, info sessions, and actions. As a first step, you can send a letter to TJ’s here: http://action.ciw-online.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4368 See you soon!! Contact eip215@nyu.edu for more info!