IMMOKALEE, Fla. — Landmark deals to boost wages for Florida tomato pickers are in danger of collapsing under pressure from Burger King and a growers group that is threatening fines of $100,000 against members who participate.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers fought for years to persuade fast-food giants McDonald’s Corp. and Taco Bell owner Yum Brands Inc. to pay a penny more per pound of Florida tomatoes — with their suppliers passing the money on to farm workers. The agreements were mostly symbolic, affecting only a tiny fraction of Florida tomato pickers, but they paved the way for raising wages and strengthening farm-worker rights across the industry.
So the coalition set its sights on Burger King, but the Miami-based company joined the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange to oppose a deal.
The growers exchange maintains the agreements may violate antitrust laws, though it has declined to offer specifics. It threatened members that accept the deal with $100,000 fines, three independent sources close to the exchange told The Associated Press.
What the growers say carries weight. Florida supplies 80 percent of the domestic fresh tomatoes between Thanksgiving and February.
Exchange spokesman Reggie Brown refused to discuss the fines but called the coalition agreements “un-American” because they allow a third party to set wages. He said the industry will instead continue to develop its own programs to monitor worker treatment and food safety.
Several antitrust experts say the association may be the one violating antitrust laws by banning its members’ participation.
“This exchange is limiting one way in which these growers can compete for the business of these major fast-food contracts,” said Stephen Ross, a Pennsylvania State University law professor. “The only antitrust violation I see is the growers’ response.”
For the backbreaking labor of picking tomatoes, Florida workers earn about 45 cents per 32-pound bucket. That can mean upward of $11 an hour for those who hustle to fill more than 200 buckets a day. But work isn’t guaranteed, and tomato pickers get neither health insurance nor overtime. Most field workers are immigrants, many of them in the U.S. illegally.
