Chaumtoli HuqLabor Day is a paradox for farmworkers. Thanks to the racist context in which the National Labor Relations Act was passed, some key labor rights laws in the U.S. still exclude or fail agricultural workers. And while the labor movement has pioneered impressive wins for workers’ rights through non-union worker groups, it is still uncertain how effectively the “alt labor” movement can scale its impact.
Dairy farmworkers have been particularly impacted by the increasing concentration of power in the hands of corporations and away from workers. Due to consolidation and globalization in the dairy industry, farmers have seen wages decrease, and farmworkers have seen working conditions worsen. As the Worker Justice Center of New York reported in their comprehensive 2017 publication Milked: Immigrant Dairy Farmworkers in New York State, dairy workers labor for an average 12 hours per day for minimum wage without the right to a day of rest or to overtime pay. Nearly 1/3 reported having experienced wage theft, 2/3 reported being injured on the job, and over half reported living in substandard housing.
Despite these occupational injustices, farmworkers rarely leave the farm premises due to their fear of immigration enforcement, as 93% of workers interviewed reported lacking immigration documents. Almost all the workers surveyed live on-farm, and many described feeling trapped, isolated, and depressed.
The Milked report echoed findings of Vermont farmworker rights organization Migrant Justice’s 2014 survey of the working conditions of dairy farm workers. Migrant Justice had been aware of these issues since its inception in 2009, sparked into creation by tragic death of a young dairy worker killed in a workplace accident while operating heavy farm machinery. Since then, Migrant Justice has been organizing to secure rights for dairy farmworkers and migrant worker generally, including the right to drive regardless of immigration status, freedom from discriminatory policing, and inclusion in truly universal healthcare.
Calling on Corporations to Pay the Labor that Enriches Them
[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hile many of Migrant Justice’s efforts aim at legislators seeking legal reform, they aimed at the food industry leaders profiting from farmworker labor to change workplace rights. The idea to do so came from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), who successfully pioneered what the New York Times deemed “the best workplace monitoring program” using the model of worker-driven social responsibility (WSR). WSR entails the workers themselves dictating the changes needed in their workplace to bring about true social responsibility. The CIW’s Fair Food Program used the WSR model to transform Florida tomato fields from conditions damningly described as “ground zero for modern day slavery” to fields free of slavery and sexual harassment, targeting the corporate buyers at the top, such as McDonald’s, Walmart, Whole Foods, and more.Migrant Justice likewise saw that the greatest locus for change in the dairy industry was not the small farmers, but rather, the corporate buyers. Small dairy farmers suffer from the consolidated market’s crushingly low milk prices. Corporate buyers, on the other hand, are removed from the caprice of dairy pricing. Instead, they are subject to the sentiments of their consumers. A benefit corporation like Ben & Jerry’s derives even more its socially conscious image. Thus, encouraged by the success and advice of the CIW, Migrant Justice designed the Milk with Dignity Program using the WSR model.
Fearless, earnest, and determined, MJ then launched the Milk with Dignity campaign asking a multi-billion-dollar company to live up to the social justice mantra it purported to support. The activists had justice and conviction on their side, but those are not yet valued in the billions, and it was not clear at first if that would be enough. Although Ben and Jerry’s nominally agreed to support the Milk with Dignity program in 2015, both discussions and demonstrations continued for another two years. It was anyone’s guess how things would play out.
Then, in October of 2017, Migrant Justice and Ben & Jerry’s signed a legally binding agreement in which Ben & Jerry’s joined the MD Program, thus committing to require its supplier farms to come into compliance with the MD Code of Conduct. Both parties declared the agreement a victory, and a year later, it seems they were right.
In a joint statement at the Ben & Jerry’s factory in Waterbury, Vermont, representatives of Migrant Justice and Ben & Jerry’s spoke to their great satisfaction with the program thus far. Ben and Jerry’s mission “to make the best possible ice cream in the nicest possible way” now includes the farmworkers who make that nice cream possible.
Milk Gets Some Dignity
So what does dignified milk mean? By joining the Milk with Dignity program, Ben & Jerry’s has contractually committed to preferentially source their milk from farms who participate in the Milk with Dignity Program, which entails coming into compliance with the MD Code of Conduct.
The code was created by workers themselves to secure the fundamental human rights of dairy workers, which include receiving the Vermont minimum wage, the right to one day off a week, and access to a 24/7 hotline to report workplace abuses. Farmers who comply with the code receive a premium from Ben & Jerry’s to offset the costs of improving farm labor and housing conditions.
On-farm conditions are monitored by the Milk with Dignity Standards Council – a third-party auditing body also based in Vermont that monitors compliance with the MD Code, investigates complaints, and works with farms and workers to develop corrective plans when necessary.
Positive Impact on Working Conditions
Only halfway into the program’s first year, over 70 farms have enrolled, and the volume of milk they produce is enough to fully meet Ben & Jerry’s dairy needs. Even though milk from farms within and without the program is mixed together in processing at St. Albans coop, Ben & Jerry’s is able to award participating farms their earned program premium based on the volume they produce.
Workers on many of these farms have already seen their wages rise, their schedules regularize, and their homes brought up to decent standards of living. Even more impactful than the specifics of safety equipment and minimum wage, though, is the equality in bargaining power that the program has achieved. Finally, farmworkers can speak openly and honestly with their employers without fearing retaliation. For workers vulnerable not only to wage theft but also to abuse of the immigration system, parity is huge.
Adonai, a farmworker on a newly enrolled farm, testified to this fact, stating that “Milk with Dignity came to our farm and changed everything. Now we can sit down with the boss and have a dialog, we have the right to speak up when something’s not right.” Hector, working on another new Milk with Dignity farm, confirmed: “Before we didn’t have any bargaining power; with the program we know what we can demand. We know our rights as workers.”
While the program’s 24/7 worker support line has been ringing steadily, almost all complaints have been successfully and promptly resolved. As Milk with Dignity spokesperson and former dairy farmworker Enrique Balcazar stated, the program has truly heralded “a new day in dairy, a new day for human rights.”
Though Ben & Jerry’s is the first giant of the dairy industry to join the Milk with Dignity program, they likely won’t be the last. Migrant Justice members report they’ve already been approached by other companies interested in joining. A new day for dairy indeed.
By Andrea Folds, a recent graduate of law school and seminary, who is excited to rejoin the world. Andrea ghostwrites for a wide range of social justice issues and can be reached at andreafolds@gmail.com
