Farm worker project on social justice in organic agriculture

Farm worker project on social justice in organic agriculture

Summary

CATA has been implementing the pilot of its Agricultural Justice Project (AJP) in conjunction with its project partners (including RAFI-USA, Peacework Organic Farm, and Florida Organic Growers). CATA’s working group, consisting of four farmworker members of the organization, three of whom serve on CATA’s Board of Directors, and one staff person, has continued to meet to discuss the progress of the project and make any decisions needed to guide staff in all steps being made. Two farmworker members of CATA’s working group (both members of CATA’s board of directors) accompanied a staff person and participated in farm site visits and meetings of the Domestic Fair Trade Working Group during the 2006 growing season – which ensured direct worker participation in all aspects of the project, from vision to detailed technical decisions.

Objectives/Performance Targets

• Build the capacity of CATA’s leadership and membership, who will then take an active role in development, oversight, and advocacy for this project.

  Form a permanent working group of our most interested members that will meet on a regular basis.

  Facilitate the direct participation of farmworkers in conferences or outside meetings whenever possible.

  Pilot the standards on organic farms, including site visits and communication with the farmers.

  Conduct outreach to its own membership and the broader farmworker community through its existing structure and popular communications network.

  Promote the dissemination of information about the project to the broader sustainable agriculture community through its participation in existing networks and coalitions.

  Educate the public regarding the potential benefits of social justice labels.

Accomplishments/Milestones

The working group met on average every two months, and more often as needed. The group also coordinated and communicated on a continual basis between meetings to advance its work. The working group advised and guided the work of the organization throughout the project, and served as a conduit between staff and the broader membership of the organization.

CATA conducted outreach to its own membership and the broader farmworker community through its existing structure and popular communications network. This included the Spanish language farmworker newsletter, Siembra, as well as the development of a page dedicated to the project on CATA’s website (available in both Spanish and English). Articles were also published in CATA’s English version of Siembra to inform CATA’s supporters and the general public. In addition, presentations were conducted for CATA’s board of directors and for the general membership at CATA’s annual assembly in September, in order to ensure the whole organization’s involvement in the project.

So far six organic farmers have been identified who want to participate in the pilot project, and several others have expressed interest in participating, including one in the Northeast. All hire migrant and immigrant workers, and all have committed to negotiate with their workers over the terms of employment and to respect their workers’ rights, including the right to organize. This in and of itself is a unique achievement that will greatly benefit both the farmers and the workers on those farms – over 120 workers in total – as well as serve as a model for other farms.

CATA also participated in site visits to participating organic farms. Farmworkers from CATA’s working group took part in site visits in August 2006, giving these workers the opportunity to directly engage both the farmers and workers involved in the pilot project, in order to assess the labor relations and working conditions on the farm, as well as the fairness of the farmers’ contracts with their buyers. As follow up, CATA helped to prepare reports submitted to the farmer, with recommendations on how to further improve conditions for workers on the farm. Workers’ direct involvement in all these stages proved to be invaluable to this process.

CATA participated in the planning for the August 2006 meeting of the Advisory Committee of its Agricultural Justice Project (AJP), as well as a broader meeting of the Domestic Fair Trade Working Group (DFT) – a varied group including Organic Valley, the nation’s largest organic farmers’ cooperative, and Equal Exchange, a fair trade organization.

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

As the farmworkers’ organization that is participating most deeply in this process, CATA plays a unique role, and is working to ensure that workers’ rights and priorities are held to a sufficiently “high bar”, in order to avoid false or unsubstantiated claims from being made about workplace justice. It is workers themselves who need to be in the lead of setting such a bar, and CATA’s work is facilitating this outcome, both in its own project (AJP) as well the broader Domestic Fair Trade Working Group (DFT).

DFT is emerging as the major “meeting space” of organizations interested in social justice labeling, and due to CATA’s efforts, along with its partners, not only CATA’s members but other farmworker organizations were able to fully participate in the August DFT meeting. One result of this was the beginning of planning for a meeting in 2007 amongst various farmworker organizations to discuss domestic fair trade and social justice labeling in more detail. CATA is playing a leading role in the planning for this event.

CATA’s involvement in the social justice label project has ensured that workers are fully participating in the pilot by helping to draft implementation procedures, conducting site-visits as part of a team to evaluate the reality on the ground on the pilot farms, and convening larger stakeholder meetings of organizations promoting domestic fair trade and social justice in organic agriculture. Workers are communicating directly with sectors of society they normally are unable to interact with on a deep level, such as family farmers and their associations, certifying agencies, fair trade organizations, and consumers’ associations.

By interacting directly with the project partners and the Advisory Committee, CATA’s members will also be able to ensure that farmworkers’ voices will be heard by a broad array of organizations and constituencies that may not otherwise have access to the farmworkers’ perspective.

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