US tobacco farm workers on ‘subminimum wages’

A farm labor advocacy group was due yesterday to conduct a street protest for the eighth consecutive year outside the headquarters of Reynolds American Inc, according to a story by Richard Craver for the Winston-Salem Journal.

The protest was scheduled to begin shortly after the end of Reynolds’ annual shareholder meeting.

The protest is said to be the most public way that the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) can try to influence Reynolds executives to take a more active role with tobacco suppliers on worker safety issues. According to the North Carolina Growers’ Association, FLOC represents about 2,000 farm workers in the state.

FLOC is said to have identified a number of problems at tobacco farms, including fatalities, subminimum wages, child labor, and the lack of water and breaks during work. Studies by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center researchers have documented such conditions.

Three FLOC-supported shareholder proposals were due to be presented at yesterday’s meeting.

Meanwhile, Craver reported that in December Reynolds and the Altria Group confirmed that contracts with tobacco growers prohibited – starting in 2015 – the hiring of anyone under the age of 16 to work in their fields.

And those aged 16 and 17 will be required to receive safety training and wear appropriate personal protective equipment, as well as provide written parental authorization prior to beginning employment.

The policies will not apply to minors working on their family farms.

Craver’s report is at: http://www.journalnow.com/reynolds-to-face-protests-again/article_9425689f-a352-58f8-b8d0-1d3478f71c8d.html.