by James Parks, May 13, 2011
In a major turnaround, officials of Reynolds American, who have refused for three years to meet with representatives of tobacco workers, agreed last week to look into the labor practices in their supply chain and work with other parties, including the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) to ensure they are not complicit with human rights violations.
More than 50 FLOC members entered the Reynolds American shareholders’ meeting last week in Winston-Salem, N.C., to deliver a report on the horrible conditions in the fields. Nearly 100,000 immigrant tobacco workers in North Carolina are paid sub-minimum wages and are exposed to dangerous conditions in the fields.
The FLOC representatives pressed company executives to ensure that this new stance is more than just words and is backed up with serious action, including meeting with farmworkers and their representatives. No date for a meeting has yet been set.
In a statement, FLOC said:
While this represents a vindication of the past three years of struggle, the campaign will continue until real progress is made in the supply chain of tobacco giant Reynolds American.
Late last month, the workers gained another major victory when executives of British American Tobacco (BAT), which owns 42 percent of Reynolds American, agreed to meet with FLOC later this month. This is the first time any corporation with close ties to Reynolds American has agreed to meet with workers.
Farm workers, union members and members of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) also protested at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., and at British consulates in nine cities in support of the tobacco workers.
