Florida Farmworkers Say Publix and Wendy's Won't Protect Workers From Sexual Violence
Rape and sexual violence are a near certainty for poor, migrant women working in Florida fields. Workplace rape is frighteningly common — a New Times investigation in 2015 chronicled a horrifying case of mass rape at one Florida farm. Other studies have suggested 80 percent of female farmworkers experience sexual harassment or violence during their careers handling food and produce.
Despite those frightening facts, Publix and Wendy's, two of the nation's largest food chains, refuse to join the labor-rights monitoring group the Fair-Food Program, run by the Coalition of Immokalee Farmworkers, a labor- and human-rights group. Chains such as Walmart, McDonald's, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and KFC have become part of the group and reportedly seen instances of labor exploitation and sexual misconduct decrease.
For the past eight years, farmworkers with the coalition say they've begged Publix to join the program. The same goes for Wendy's, which the rights organization says has held out for the past four years. So at 12:30 tomorrow, the coalition will hold a protest in downtown Miami demanding the two companies commit to protecting their most vulnerable workers against sexual violence on the job. (The march will begin at Margaret Pace Park, 1745 N. Bayshore Dr.)
"We know 80 percent of farmworkers experience harassment, but when people join the Fair Food Program, that number severely dwindles because there are actual monitoring mechanisms in place," Uriel Perez, a coalition member coordinating the protest, tells New Times. "But for some reason, Publix has decided to not join. This campaign has been going eight years; we've had marches, a six-day fast, a movie dedicated to the Publix campaign, and they've still refused to sign." (Perez says the group could not point to specific instances of abuse tied to Publix.)
Read more: http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/publix-wont-protect-workers-from-rape-farmworkers-say-9821058
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