Farmworkers were leading a five-day, 45-mile (72-kilometer) trek on foot this week from one of the poorest communities in Florida to a mansion-lined, oceanfront town that is one of the richest in an effort to pressure retailers to leverage their purchasing power for better worker pay and working conditions.
The farmworkers said they were marching to highlight the Fair Food Program, which has enlisted companies like McDonald’s, Walmart, Taco Bell and Whole Foods to use their clout with growers to ensure better working conditions and wages for farmworkers. They hoped to use the march to pressure other companies, like Publix, Wendy’s and Kroger, to join the program that started in 2011.
The march began Tuesday from the farming community of Pahokee, one of the poorest in Florida, where the median household income is around $30,000. The march’s launching point was a camp where farmworkers were coerced into working for barely any pay by a labor contractor who was convicted and sentenced last year to almost 10 years in prison. The contractor confiscated the Mexican farmworkers’ passports, demanded exorbitant fees from them and threatened them with deportation or false arrest, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The marchers were on schedule to arrive Saturday in the town of Palm Beach, which has a median household income of almost $169,000 and is lined with the mansions of the rich and famous, including billionaire Nelson Peltz, who is Wendy’s chairman, and former President Donald Trump... (read more)
Yesterday's march also included a number of special moments, including a surprise visit by longtime friend of the CIW, Archbishop Thomas Wenski of the Archdiocese of Miami, whose message of solidarity ahead of the march was outdone only by his message yesterday from atop the soundtruck -- "To all who have the power to say yes, we want them to come over to the land of justice" -- delivered outside a Publix store along the march route!
As always, we have all the highlights from Day 4 here below, including the latest march video, two photo galleries, and a round-up of the day's media.
And be sure to check back in tomorrow for the report from Day 5 as we close out the march in Palm Beach!
