#Farmworker Justice

[dgspeaks]

Emma Scott Joins Vermont Law and Graduate School as Director of Food and Agriculture Clinic: A Bold Step for Food System Equity

Vermont Law and Graduate School (VLGS) has taken an exciting leap forward with the appointment of Emma Scott as the new director of the Food and Agriculture Clinic. With a stellar background in food law, policy, and social justice, Scott brings a wealth of experience to this role. She’s not just stepping into a position; she’s here to make a lasting impact, and the timing couldn’t be better. A…

[makingcontact]

But Next Time Part 1: California Wildfires and Protecting Our Farmworkers (Encore)

KBBF board President, Alicia Sanchez prepares a recording for the station.Credit: Leah Mahan   As fires ravaged California’s world-famous wine country in 2017, a community radio station, emergency dispatcher, and tenant organizers helped the most vulnerable in their community survive and recover. Community organizers and hosts of the podcast But Next Time Chrishelle Palay and Rose Arrieta bring…

[afloweroutofstone]

New job reveal: I'm doing economic and climate policy with the Quakers, both national and international. In this role I'll be writing fewer investigative reports, but more policy explainers.

For example, here's my latest piece on why you (yes, you, dear reader), should care about the debate over agriculture going on right now in congress.

Everyone should have the food and nutrition they need to thrive. But today, people around the world face hunger in their daily lives, including 47 million in the United States alone. As prices at the grocery store have increased and COVID-era benefits have expired over the last two years, the number of people facing food insecurity has only grown. The climate crisis threatens to make this problem even worse. Droughts and floods damage crops, natural disasters like wildfires and hurricanes disrupt harvests, and severe heat threatens the safety of those who grow our food. To ensure that everyone has the ability to feed their families, we must adopt an approach to farming that promotes sustainable agriculture, protects farmworkers and family farmers, and ensures that no one goes hungry. This is what makes the Farm Bill so important. This massive piece of legislation has a wide-reaching impact on our food system. It includes agricultural subsidies, nutrition assistance, climate resiliency programs, and more. While it is traditionally passed every five years, the 2018 Farm Bill was extended to last until September 2024. As Congress debates the newest version of this law, it is vital that they pass a just Farm Bill that provides for everyone’s basic needs and promotes sustainable agriculture to ensure food justice for future generations. Here’s what you need to know. 

Click through for more!

[utilitycaster]

If you have time/are willing, could you explain or link to an explaination of what the critical role wendy's one shot was and how it was a misstep? I am relatively new to watching CR and tend to be selective of how I engage with fandom in general, so I know only very basic history. I'd google, but who knows what would come up, and I find your observations and explanations both well reasoned and well written.

Hi anon, thank you, but I do recommend searching things because exercising critical thinking is important and it can atrophy if you rely on one source, even one you like. Also I don't know all the details at all because I'm rarely on Twitter. Most Twitter links I post were sent to me.

I was in the fandom at the time and watched it and the one-shot itself doesn't have any issues other than being, obviously, blatantly sponsored content (which they were very open about it being). It was very silly but the cast (Sam as GM, Liam, Matt, Marisha, and Ify Nwadiwe as players) were totally fine and inoffensive unless you count how bad Sam's Irish accent was, which, he's used that elsewhere.

I know it was taken down because fans opposed some of Wendy's practices, which I gather are typical fast food exploitation and they had, around the time of the episode, specifically fucked over farm workers by outsourcing to Mexico rather than paying US farmers fairly. Anyway the cast took the video down and donated the money they received to Farmworker Justice. As for whether I personally think it was a misstep; I think it wasn't great and I support their decision to take it down and donate the money, and more generally I think it led them to consider who they would partner with for advertising, which I'm not sure had been as big a consideration (keep in mind this was only a few months after going independent from Geek and Sundry). I wouldn't have felt betrayed if CR didn't take action, but I like that they did.

[olowan-waphiya]

About the Campaign

The Aim:

We are seeking 30 acres of land with healthy soil, ideally with a previous history of agricultural use. The land should be within 20 miles of Denver, CO and grant us both water and mineral rights. The land should be valued equally to all members of the ecosystem that occupy it. We intend to use this land to grow food for our communities throughout Denver and as a place of education and healing. The land would be owned by the organization, FrontLine Farming, but would also be open to collective use in our BIPOC community.

Now is the Time:

Black, Brown and Indigenous Farmers across the United States have been systemically excluded from access to land whether through outright intimidation and theft, loan discrimination or laws such as Heirs Property Rights. Land in the United States was stolen from Indigenous Communities and while BIPOC communities represent a quarter of the US population, they own less than 5% of farmland and cultivate on less than 1% of the land. Yet those who have historically cultivated the land and comprise the over 2.4 million farmworkers in the United States are people of color from diverse communities and foodways. They are descendants of Africans brought here, immigrants, refugees and people who have continuously brought their agricultural knowledge and skills to feed nations.

We have used our radical imaginations for our vision of coming back to the land and are ready to bring this vision to life. To acquire our own soil and land will fortify our efforts to honor our ancestors, to educate our community, to generate independent economic systems, to manifest equitable policies and systems change, to lead by example, to understand history and to create our future. It is a way to co-create generational wealth for our communities, and more importantly, shared power.

Acquiring the land that we envision requires moving money and resources. We are seeking support from philanthropy, local and national networks, and donors. The funds raised from this project will aid our vision and goal.

Frontline Farming

We are a BIPOC-led farmer advocacy and food justice organization that strives to create greater equity across our food system on the Front Range of Colorado. We support and create greater leadership and access for Black, Indigenous, People of Color and Womxn in our food systems. We achieve these goals through growing food, listening, educating, honoring land and ancestors, generating policy initiatives and engaging in direct action.

In 2021, we distributed 26,000 lbs of farmed produce through various programs such as our CSA, Healing Foods and SNAP/WIC recipients. We also advocate for farmers and farm workers alike to ensure that the people who grow our country’s food have access to basic rights and protections that are already afforded to other workers in the state.

[dayisfading]

hey! a little over a month ago i reblogged a post about an indigenous immigrant teen who was charged in the death of an officer because the officer died shortly after arresting him

well i got an email from the petition today that all charges against him are being dropped! i just wanted to share 'cause i know the constant stream of injustice is depressing but sometimes good things happen!

Petition update · ALL CHARGES DROPPED! Virgilio to be release soon! ♡ · Change.org

FOR IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE: March 1, 2024 LAKE WORTH BEACH, FLORIDA - In a landmark victory for justice, all charges against Virgilio Aguilar Mendez will be dropped today, thanks to the dedicated legal representation of The Baez Law Firm and cooperation with State Attorney R.J. Larizza. Virgilio Aguilar Mendez will be released within the next 72 hours and will receive assistance from The Guatemalan-Maya Center. We extend our gratitude to the legal efforts of The Arroyo Law Firm. Most importantly, we express our deep appreciation to the 600,000+ supporters of Virgilio's petition and the thousands of others who have shown support on social media, through letters, prayers, and more. Virgilio and his family are overwhelmed with gratitude for the world's generosity. We celebrate this important win today as Virgilio, a young Indigenous Maya-Mam male was racially profiled, brutalized by the police, and treated inhumanely without justice. This victory is not only for Virgilio, but for the community. So many of us saw our brothers, uncles, cousins, and ourselves in Virgilio - a migrant farmworker who came to this country to support his family. We will continue to fight for all others like Virgilio, so there are no more stories like his.

[plethoraworldatlas]

Join us as we celebrate five years of the FJFF!

From Oct. 24-27, 2024, watch award-winning documentaries and special interviews with filmmakers and activists. 

This year's featured films:

DOLORES

The Smell of Money

Into the Weeds

Invisible Valley

After you have signed up:

When the festival starts on Oct. 24, log in and click the “FILMS” tab at the top of the page to watch all of the films anytime Oct. 24-27.

DOLORES | special re-FEATURE

Dolores Huerta is among the most important, yet least known, activists in American history. An equal partner in co-founding the first farm workers unions with Cesar Chavez, her enormous contributions have gone largely unrecognized. Dolores tirelessly led the fight for racial and labor justice alongside Chavez, becoming one of the most defiant feminists of the twentieth century—and she continues the fight to this day. Directed by Peter Bratt

THE SMELL OF MONEY | FEATURE

When a corporate hog farm moves in–uninvited–on land her grandfather had purchased after claiming his freedom from slavery, Elsie Herring decides to fight back. But as her rural community becomes the epicenter of the pork industry’s explosion in America, Elsie’s struggle to save her family’s home and heritage turns into a battle against one of the world’s most powerful companies and its deadly pollution. 

Directed by Shawn Bannon

INTO THE WEEDS | FEATURE

Does the most widely used weed killer in the world cause cancer? Into the Weeds follows the riveting story of groundskeeper Lee Johnson and his fight for justice against agrochemical giant, Monsanto (now Bayer), the manufacturer of Roundup herbicide. Blending interviews, trial footage, news coverage and vérité, the film follows the progression of this groundbreaking trial.

Directed by Jennifer Baichwal.

INVISIBLE VALLEY | FEATURE

Invisible Valley weaves together the disparate stories of undocumented farmworkers, wealthy snow-birds, and music festival-goers over the course of a year in California's Coachella valley. Through intimate glimpses of life on both ends of the Valley, the film uncovers looming environmental and social crises for everyone who call it home, with dire implications tor the rest of the country. 

Directed by Aaron Maurer and Zach McMillan

[girderednerve]

On September 10, 1972, a memorial was erected to the 19 striking miners martyred by police and coal company guns in the Lattimer Massacre, seventy-five years before. One of the speakers who marked the occasion was César Chavez, of the United Farmworkers, whose remarks emphasized that the murdered workers were Eastern European immigrants, who had been excluded from union protection because of the UMWA's nativism:

“We know only too well the hardship and sacrifice of these mineworkers back on September 10, 1897. For here is a group of workers in America today whose lives so closely parallel the lives of those miners. They too are immigrants; they too have strange-sounding names; they too speak a foreign language; they too are trying to build a union; they too face hostile sheriffs and recalcitrant employers; they too are non-violent, as these men were.

“Let there be strength and unity in the ranks of labor throughout this land; let there be only one voice; let there be only one Lattimer; let there be peace; let there be justice; let there be love. Amen.”

[organizeworkers]

Join the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee for a discussion of

Climate Justice at Work

Tuesday, April 9 at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT

We’ll be joined by workers in union and non-union workplaces who’ve been fighting climate injustice at work. Farmworkers, teachers, solar construction workers, and Starbucks baristas — all building their worker power to demand better working conditions in a changing climate and a sustainable future for all.

Co-sponsored by Labor Network for Sustainability and Climate and Community Project.

Register

Panelists include:

Alfredo J.: farmworker and member of Familias Unidas Por La Justicia. Alfredo and Familias Unidas are leading the fight to protect farmworkers, and all workers who labor outside, from deadly heat and other climate hazards. These workers feed our families, working long hours to ensure food gets to our kitchen tables. Their courageous organizing won permanent, year-round expanded heat protection regulations for outdoor workers in all of Washington State. 

Lauren B.: teacher and member of the Chicago Teachers Union. Lauren is a high school social studies teacher and Chair of the Chicago Teachers Union Climate Justice Committee. She and her coworkers are fighting alongside local environmental justice leaders for green, healthy, sustainable community schools.

Joseph S.: solar energy construction worker and member of the Green Workers Alliance. Joseph and over 1,400 non-union utility scale solar and wind energy construction workers across the country are leading the fight against job insecurity, low wages, lack of benefits and poor safety conditions for this essential workforce. They are demanding better for green energy workers who do the critical work to ensure a zero-emissions future and a living planet for us all.

Mad A.: Starbucks barista, member of SBWU. Starbucks workers at Mad's store in Houston took action on the shop floor around health and safety concerns over working with a broken AC system in the Texas heat. Organizing around this issue galvanized the store and helped them develop a culture of strong union involvement after a period of low participation.

Mijin Cha: moderator. J. Mijin Cha is an assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz, a fellow at Cornell’s Climate Jobs Institute, and board member for both the Greenpeace Fund and the Center on Race, Poverty, and the Environment. Dr. Cha’s work looks at the intersection of climate, labor, and inequality.

Register

[insert-witty-user-name-here]

10+ Good Things Biden has Done: Climate & Labor Edition

Just a list of 10+ good things Biden has done in the last 4 years because I’ve been hearing too much rhetoric that it doesn’t matter who you vote for. It does make a difference. 

Find more 10+ good things here, here and here.

Rejoined the Paris Climate Accords.  

Listed more than 24 million acres of public lands across the country as environmentally protected and has channeled more than $18 billion dollars toward conservation projects. (And revoked the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline amongst others). (x)

Invested $369 billion to reduce greenhouse emissions and promote clean energy technologies through the Inflation Reduction Act. Through the tax incentives under the Inflation Reduction Act, renewable energy (such as wind, solar, and hydropower) has surpassed coal-fired generation in the electric power sector for the first time, making it the second-biggest source of energy behind natural gas. (x)

Strengthened protections against workplace assault through the Speak Out Act. (x) 

Increased protections for workers during the union bargaining process (x)

Is making it easier for passengers to obtain refunds when airlines cancel or significantly change their flights, significantly delay their bags, or fail to provide extra services when purchased. (x)  

Invested $1.2 trillion into roads, waterlines, broadband networks, airports and more allowing for more bridges, railroads, tunnels, roads, and more through the Inflation Reduction Act (which also added 670,000 jobs). (idk about you but I like driving on well maintained roads and having more rail options).  

Strengthened overtime protections for federal employees (x)

Raised the minimum wage for federal workers and contractors to $15. (x)

Strengthened protections for farmworkers by expanding the activities protected from retaliation by the National Labor Relations Act and more. (Previously anti-retaliation provisions under the National Labor Relations Act applies mostly to only U.S. citizens) (x)

Invested $80 billion for the Internal Revenue Service to hire new agents, audit the wealth, modernize its technology, and more. Additionally, created $300 billion in new revenue through corporate tax increases. (x) 

Lowered the unemployment rate to 3.5% — the lowest in 50 years.

Proposed investments in a lot of programs including universal pre-k, green energy, mental health programs across all sectors, a national medical leave program for all workers and more. (x) 

Last… let’s also not forget all the truly terrible things Trump did when he was in office. If you need a reminder, scroll this list, this one mostly for giggles + horror, for actual horror about what a Trump presidency has in store, learn about ‘Project 2025’ from the Heritage Foundation. I know this post is about reasons to vote FOR Biden but let’s not forget the many, many reasons to vote for him over Trump.

Looking for more?

10+ good things Biden has done in education and immigration and

10+ good things Biden has done in healthcare and housing

10+ good things Biden has done in the justice and courts system

A few other notes

Voting for Biden or Trump shouldn’t be the only reason you vote. You know what elections have more power over your life? LOCAL elections. If you’re not feeling jazzed about Biden… vote for someone really cool running for mayor, or your rep, or on your school board and then begrudgingly vote for Biden. 

A reminder that if someone online is trying to discourage you to vote there’s a good chance they are a paid actor to do so. Voter suppression was a well-documented tactic during the 2016 election and I’m sure the trolls are out in force again. 

Check your voter registration here, make a plan to vote, and encourage your friends to vote as well. 

All in all, yeah… there’s a lot of shitty things still happening. There’s always going to be shit but things aren’t going to change on their own. And that change starts (it certainly doesn’t end) with voting. 

Go vote in November.

[humanrightsconnected]

On World Food Day, be sure to check out our blog post on food justice 👇! 

[beardedmrbean]

Dec. 30 (UPI) -- The owner of a Florida-based farmworker company has been sentenced to 118 months in prison on racketeering and forced-labor conspiracy charges.

U.S. District Court Judge Charlene Edward Honeywell of the Middle District of Florida sentenced Bladimir Moreno, 55, Thursday and ordered him to pay more than $175,000 in restitution to the victims, all of whom were Mexican H-2A agricultural workers between 2015 and 2017.

According to court documents, Moreno owned and operated Los Villatoros Harvesting, a farm-labor contracting company that employed Mexican workers on H-2A agricultural visas. Authorities say that once the farmworkers arrived in the United States, Moreno used false promises and coercion to compel the workers to labor under harsh conditions in Florida, Kentucky, Indiana, Georgia and North Carolina.

Authorities say Moreno and his co-conspirators coerced H-2A agricultural workers by imposing debts on them, confiscating their passports and keeping them in the United States after their visas had expired. He also forced workers into "crowded, unsanitary and degrading living conditions" and threatened workers with arrest and deportation if they didn't meet his demands.

RELATED Gov. Newsom signs bill expanding union rights for farmworkers

Federal investigators say Moreno also gave investigators fraudulent worker records during their probe of operations at Los Villatoros Harvesting.

"This defendant abused his power as a business owner to capitalize on the victims' vulnerabilities and immigration status, luring those seeking a better quality of life with false promises of lawful work paying a fair wage," said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. "The defendant forced Mexican agricultural workers to labor under inhumane conditions, confiscated their passports, imposed exorbitant fees and debts, and threatened them with deportation or false arrest."

Justice Department officials charged Moreno in 2021, and he pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, as well as conspiracy to commit forced labor. Two of his co-defendants previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy under the RICO Act and previously were sentenced in October. Christina Gamez, a U.S. citizen who worked for Los Villatoros Harvesting as a bookkeeper and supervisor, was sentenced to 37 months in prison. Guadalupe Mendes Mendoza, 45, pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct a federal investigation and was sentenced to eight months of home detention and a $5,500 fine.

RELATED Supreme Court rules against unions organizing on California farms

The Palm Beach County, Fla., Human Trafficking Task Force and the county's Sheriff's Office investigated the case with help from multiple Department of Labor investigators and worker-rights organizations. The Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee Workers said it assisted federal investigators after two workers escaped from their employers' control by hiding in the trunk of a car and escaping to seek help.

"Forcing individuals to work against their will using abusive and coercive tactics is not only unconscionable but illegal," said U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg for the Middle District of Florida. "We will continue to work with our task force partners to combat human trafficking in all its forms, including prosecuting those who exploit vulnerable workers."

Anyone with information about human trafficking can report it to the National Human Trafficking Hotline at 1-888-373-7888.

[azspot]

This appears to be the only A-Team episode that features a union. Explicitly pro-labor TV was hard to find in the conservative, post-PATCO Reagan era. Although the team often helps powerless folks in bad situations, this show was known more for cartoonish violence than for any progressive content. Why did they choose this union theme? Perhaps because the United Farm Workers had been in the news over the years with their high-profile grape and lettuce worker campaigns.

[schatzwiederentdeckung]

What is Justice? A Short Discussion of a Complicated Question

"The world progresses, in the slow and halting manner in which it does progress, only in proportion to the moral energy exerted by the men and women living in it." -Jane Addams (Nobel Peace Prize Winner, 1930) 

According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “justice can take a number of different forms, depending on the practical context in which it is being applied." Anecdotally, one of the most common occurrences of world justice is in terms of laws and the judicial system, but it also arises throughout discussions of politics, theology, and ethics. In the context of law, this can be seen as establishing statutes that hold people accountable for actions that harm others. In the context of politics, this can be seen in terms like social justice which refer to creating a society of equal opportunity and availability of resources. In terms of philosophy and ethics, this idea of justice could be seen as the moral responsibility to treat people fairly and to not practice discrimination. Although the term justice can be referred to in a different manner throughout each of these contexts, the main ideas that seem to hold true through all of them is that justice means establishing a basis of equality, and impartiality, between people so they have a fair chance of flourishing without the restriction of someone or something else. While it may be difficult to pinpoint an exact definition of the term, it remains even harder to pinpoint a way in which someone can cultivate it. Though this is true, we have often pointed to Aristotle’s notion of the need of role models as the way, and possibly only way, to cultivate virtues like justice in the self. Historical figures of virtue allow for virtues like justice to change from an abstract term to one of tangible character traits and actions.  

One of the historical figures that may be used to model the virtue of justice is Walter Reuther. Framing justice through the lens of social justice and creating a society of equality and fairness shows the need of a historical figure who fought for fairness and equality throughout even the most difficult of challenges. Walter Ruther was one of the leaders to organize the newly formed United Auto Workers Union in Detroit between 1936 and 1937. As he was elected in the UAW’s executive board, he represented around 30,000 auto workers and was a key leader in the 1937 sit-down strikes in Flint, Michigan to convince General Motors to raise wages to sustainable levels and to officially recognize the union. He then tried to unionize Ford’s River Rouge plant in Dearborn, Michigan, but when he, and other UAW organizers, were handing out pamphlets outside the building Ford sent a group of men to beat Reuther and the other organizers. Though he nearly died in the incident, Reuther did not stop fighting for workers' rights. By 1948, he bargained with GM to agree to bring wages up to the price of living, establish grievance procedures for workers, enforce safely standards, and even grant workers up to 95% of their salary in the case that they were laid off, pioneering the way for many modern worker’s rights. In 1963, Reuther stood by Martin Luther King Jr. throughout his speech during the March on Washington, marched with King and John Lewis from Selma to Montgomery, and even sat on the National Advisory Board for the NAACP. Later on, he also supported Cesar Chavez and the United Farmworkers Union. Reuther fought for social justice and reforms for countless types of people in order to establish the virtue of justice in society.  

Both Galtung and Maslow depict the need for safety and physiological needs in order to promote wellbeing. Reuther’s example shows how the virtue of justice is important to making sure these needs are met. Reuther fought for justice in order for laborers to have safe working conditions and fair wages. Without these, there is no way for an individual to flourish let alone survive. Without the virtue of justice, people are left on both a literal and figurative starvation diet to satisfy their needs. They do not have access to fairness and equality that gives them Maslow’s foundation to start their journey towards flourishing. Justice provides an individual with the common ground to healthily satisfy their basic needs so they can work on establishing true well-being. Furthermore, practicing the virtue of justice in the self may be a way for people to develop Seligman’s ideas of positive emotions, engagement, and positive relationships as practicing justice means viewing others as equals. In turn, this gives people the humility to create relationships and foster engagement since they have this equal view.  

The decision on where to “enter the forest” on the topic of justice is a very complicated one. As today’s modern definition of justice may fall into one dictated by the sense of law (whether divine or political) it may be helpful to enter the forest with Plato’s Republic where he defines a more intrinsic version of justice outside of external laws. If looking through the lens of social justice, as I chose to do with the Reuther example, it may be helpful to enter the forest in a time of great change to social justice and equality. Whether this be with labor reforms, the suffrage movements, the civil rights movement or another time of advancements towards equality, one could choose to enter the forest during a time of little justice and work their way through the efforts of people who embark on the slow but virtuous path towards achieving it.

[culturesofresistancefilms]

2/22/2024

Brazil – Justice for murdered farmworkers! In 1997, Manoel Luiz da Silva, a rural farmer and member of Brazil's landless worker's movement (MST), was tragically murdered. He was an outspoken advocate for land rights and his case was linked to other murders and enforced disappearances related to the activities of militia-like groups in the Northeast region of Brazil, which have close ties to landowners and local political authorities. To this day, Manoel's murderers have not been brought to justice, in part because the Brazilian State has failed to comply with its duty to properly investigate violence against landless workers.

The case of Manoel's murder, unfortunately, is not an isolated incident. In November last year, in the Northeast region alone, three other landless rural workers were murdered.

Our friends at Justiça Global are bringing Manoel's case to the Inter-American Court in Costa Rica for a trial that will proceed this month—charging the Brazilian state with a failure to investigate and uphold justice. This case has the potential to lead to international condemnation of Brazil and pressure to protect human rights defenders!

Justiça Global was founded in 1999 by a group of researchers, lawyers, and human rights defenders. Since its foundation, their work has focused on promoting human rights by using litigation at organizations such as the Inter-American Human Rights System and the United Nations.

Follow Justiça Global's Facebook for updates on the trial at the hashtag #JustiçaParaAlmirEManoel:

Learn more about our support of Justiça Global through our sister organization, the Cultures of Resistance Network, here: https://culturesofresistance.org/groups.../justica-global/