Petiton to end sweat shops and slavery in the fields

by Kevin Sharkey [courtesy of Blog for America]

Brevard Workers For Democracy

Resolution: 01-08

Subject: Ending sweat-shops and slavery in the fields

WHEREAS, there is an ongoing human rights crisis in Florida's fields, including:

1. poverty wages, rooted in an antiquated piece-rate pay system that hasn’t changed significantly in nearly 30 years;

2. long hours without overtime pay when work is available, unemployment and transience when it is not;

3. physical abuse and wage fraud by crew leaders, supervisors, and growers;

4. damage to body and soul from back-breaking labor, with no employment benefits such as sick days, paid leave, health insurance, or pensions;

5. retaliation against workers who protest or organize to alleviate these inhuman conditions;

6. and, most shamefully, modern-day slavery, with six successful federal prosecutions of farm labor operations for servitude in Florida over the past decade, and a seventh just initiated, involving well over 1,000 workers and more than a dozen farm employers;

(Click Read More for the rest of this post)