archive for the 'Labor' Category

Have it Burger King’s way — shower executives with millions, stiff the pickers

by Marc R. aka Mental Masala @ Thursday, November 29th, 2007.

The stinginess and lack of ethics shown by Burger King and its contractors in balking over giving Florida tomato pickers a penny-a-pound raise is outrageous.
Eric Schlosser, the journalist who exposed the dirty underbelly of the fast-food industry in "Fast Food Nation" has a scathing op-ed in the Times today about the injustice. After reviewing […]

Digest - News: Tomato pay raise endangered, Smithfield rejects clones, organic fish debated

by Ethicurean @ Thursday, November 29th, 2007.

Breaking news and developments, such as contaminated-food outbreaks, Farm Bill milestones, and how the farming community is faring around the world.

Digest - News & Commentary: Bee breakthrough, popcorn lung, progressive grocers

by Ethicurean @ Friday, September 7th, 2007.

A roundup of current news and commentary about everything from Farm Bill updates to backyard chickens, transgenic foods, E. coli recalls, and sustainable fish.

Why I love labor

by Elanor @ Monday, September 3rd, 2007.

It’s Labor Day, the day we pay homage to the folks who brought us the weekend (among many other things). It’s a fitting moment to show some love for the labor movement, which has seen union membership decline from a high of nearly 33% of the U.S. workforce in the 1950s to a mere 12.5% […]

Digest - Features: toxic gardens, green restaurants, stylish shopping bags

by Ethicurean @ Wednesday, July 18th, 2007.

A side of sustainability: Solar water-heated dishwashers, biodiesel delivery trucks, local produce are all part of the burgeoning trend of "green" restaurants in Los Angeles. Russ Parsons tries to make sense of the claims, shows what restaurateurs are doing (and are not doing, like totally giving up bottled water, a significant revenue stream). (Los Angeles […]

Going into labor: On immigration reform and agriculture

by Bonnie P. @ Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007.

That includes — you guessed it — U.S. farm fields, packing plants, and slaughter facilities, where Congress admits even migrant laborers probably won’t want to work once they gain legal status (and where Colorado has recently proposed to use prison labor to deal with a shortage of migrant workers)…. In 1951, Congress passes a law creating the Bracero guestworker program, which allows producers to “import” Mexican workers legally for seasonal jobs and send them home afterward…. They’re stymied by two factors: first, employers use the threat of job termination to keep workers from even talking to the union, and second, when workers do manage to gain legal status, they typically leave the farm sector for better-paying positions in other industries.

…We can also take important steps in our communities by supporting producers and organizations who are making workers’ rights a top priority for farm businesses (see some inspiring work by the Domestic Fair Trade dialogue, the upper Midwest’s Local Fair Trade Network , and California’s Swanton Berry Farm)…. See Oxfam America’s labor rights campaign and the Agribusiness Accountability Initiative for information on making processing and retail markets more fair, and the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture for some great 2007 Farm Bill proposals that would help address these issues in contract markets (where producers raise crops and livestock under contract for packers and processors).

Digest: Organic rules changed, irradiation renamed, feed the tank and starve the poor

by Ethicurean @ Tuesday, April 3rd, 2007.

Bye-bye, organic coffee, sugar, chocolate?: Sam Fromartz reports on a new ruling by the USDA that dramatically changes how non-U.S. farms are certified organic. Previously, only a small percentage of farms in “grower groups” would be randomly inspected, and the group would then police the remainder’s practices. Writes Fromartz: “The staggered inspection method has been […]

Digest: Deadly petfood, spinach grower speaks up, end of an era in Chicago

by Ethicurean @ Saturday, March 17th, 2007.

PET OWNERS ALERT: Many cats and dogs have suffered kidney failure and about 10 have died after eating pet food by Menu Foods, which is recalling dog food sold under 46 brands and cat food sold under 37 brands (including Iams, Nutro and Eukanuba) at major retailers such as Wal-Mart, Kroger, and Safeway. Houston […]

Digest: Farm Bill funding battle, Straus in Time, tragedy of the commons applies to whole Earth

by Ethicurean @ Thursday, March 15th, 2007.

First salvo in budget battle: The Senate Budget Committee chair issued his blueprint for federal spending yesterday, which included $15 billion more for Farm Bill agriculture spending between 2007 and 2012 than did the Congressional Budget Office baseline. Senate Ag Chair Tom Harkin says that’s not enough and vows to get more before the budget […]

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