NFWM News & Action Alerts
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In this issue:
- March 28th Action at Coastal Carolinas Circle K in Raleigh, NC
- UFW Dairy Workers Campaign at Starbucks Shareholder Meeting
- Support Vital Farm worker Legislation
- Farewell to Alexandria Jonas
- Thank you Eric Turner, Duke Divinity School Intern
- Start Your Planning for the 2019 Harvest of Justice Season
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On March 28th, more than 40 Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) supporters gathered at the Circle K Coastal Carolinas regional office in Raleigh, NC. FLOC, National Farm Worker Ministry, Triangle Friends of Farmworkers (TFF), North Carolina Church Women United, Student Action with Farmworkers, North Carolina State AFL-CIO, NAACP Chapel Hill/Carrboro Branch and other NC based organizations and churches came out.
We formed a human billboard along the sidewalk in front of the building; we chanted and waved signs and we pulled out our cell phones and called various Circle K executives. But what we really came to do was meet with Circle K regional decision-makers.
For a year now, we have asked Circle K management to honor the boycott and take VUSE off their shelves. We have asked management to meet with us - without any response from the Circle K. On this day, we were told no one at the regional office would meet with us. Instead we were given the number of the North America Director of Global Communications, Alimentation Couche-Tard. Couche-Tard is the parent company of Circle K.
We will continue to try to get a meeting with decision-makers. BUT REALLY! This is NOT a publicity/communications issue. This is a JUSTICE issue that reflects badly on Circle K, as it has for years on Reynolds American because exploitation in their supply chain is wrong. And refusing to own up to their corporate responsibility is wrong.
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Farm Workers and Allies Attend Starbucks Annual Shareholder Meeting
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On March 20
th
, Starbucks held their annual shareholder meeting in Seattle, WA. Supporters were there from Farm Worker Ministry-North West (FWM-NW): Connie Yost, president of FWM-NW, John Nichols, a long time supporter from Oregon and treasurer of FWM-NW and Carla Shaefer, Bellingham area organizer with Familias Unidas por la Justicia. They were supporting the protest outside and several took proxies inside the meeting, prepared to speak on behalf of dairy workers.
Inside, the first person to speak during the question/answer portion was John Nichols who provided the face and voice of faith to what would be a majority of speakers addressing Darigold as a supplier of Starbucks milk products. Moments later Jorge Monreal, the son of a dairy worker spoke. His mother,
Maria Gonzalez, won an EEOC claim for sexual abuse and retaliation during her employment at a dairy farm in Washington.
His witness and her presence in the audience as he pointed to her were a powerful message to the company and they seemed visibly moved.
But it’s not over. The pressure on Starbucks is so they will put pressure on Darigold so they will put pressure on Ruby Ridge dairy, part of their dairy cooperative and the people countersuing the UFW and the Darigold Dozen on May 22nd.
NFWM is grateful to all you who made videos to post on Facebook, sent messages, signed the petition, posted photos in front of Starbucks, delivered store managers letters, turned out for the shareholders meeting and for all the prayers and good thoughts that led up to this event. Please don’t stop now. Continue to pray. Continue to
take store manager letters
as we asked you in October. Continue to
post videos
.
Continue to
post a message for Starbucks on social media
.
KEEP THE PRESSURE ON!
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Jorge Monreal, a high school student from eastern Washington, gave Starbucks this challenge, “Can you look me in the eye and tell me you’ll protect the women working to supply your milk?”
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ACT Today to Support Farm Worker Legislation!
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You have read previously in NFWM’s updates that both the Agricultural Worker Program Act (“Blue Card” bill) and the Fairness for Farm Workers Act (Overtime bill) were re-introduced in the 116th Congress. Both are significant pieces of legislation for farm workers and for securing a stable agricultural work force and a sustainable agricultural system. Please follow our updates on the progress of these bills and we urge you to act to support them.
The most pressing need now is to increase the number of co-sponsors in Congress.
If you have not already contacted your Congressional Representative, please do so today! Farm workers gain when you act.
On April 3, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship held a hearing entitled “Securing the Future of American Agriculture.” In her opening remarks, Representative Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), the Chair of the Subcommittee, highlighted the current lack of options for farm workers to gain lawful immigration status and stressed that there should be a “seat at America’s table for those who have long grown the food served on it.”
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Maya & Alex Jonas, August 2018
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Marilea & Alex Jonas, July 2015
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Thank You & Best Wishes to Alexandria Jonas,
NFWM's Development Manager
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We say goodbye and a big thank you to Alexandria (Alex) Jonas, who is moving on from NFWM to a position as Development Manager at WISER International. Alex has been a big part of NFWM since 2007, even during her three year hiatus to work at Fund for Democratic Communities. From the beginning, Alex was motivated by her passion for social justice and the farm worker movement: “I continue to be amazed by the farm workers and their supporters who are among some of the most inspiring justice seekers I’ve ever known.”
Alex came to NFWM through the Young Adult Mission Program of the United Methodist Church. After working with farm workers and indigenous communities with the Initiatives for Peace Mindanao in the Philippines, Alex was to complete her state-side mission work under the tutelage of NFWM’s North Carolina State Organizer, Lori Khamala. That plan got changed when within a month of Alex’s arrival Lori announced she would be leaving. With an innate Si Se Puede attitude, Alex just dug in and agreed to serve in the NC organizer role. We were all thankful that UMC mission interns didn’t come wet under the ears.
Alex returned to NFWM in 2014 as Development Manager. She was instrumental in developing NFWM’s new logo, website and digital and print communication and fundraising materials. Her accomplishments include developing our house party and sustainer programs. And we were especially pleased to regain her skills as a photographer.
Also during her second stint on staff Alex became the mother of Marilea and Maya, both of whom have seen their share of NFWM board meetings and pickets and rallies. We wish Alex and her family the best as they discover new ways to make the world a better place.
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There is a conundrum when the photographer is documenting the action, you don’t get a picture of him/her. For the March 28
th
Circle K action, Eric Turner took hundreds of photographs. You can see them here on our
Flickr
page. But you won’t see a single photo of Eric. So we’ll have to make do with the one Dave Austin took of Eric at an earlier Boycott VUSE action in Chapel Hill (Above, Eric is second from the right).
Thank you to Eric for being NFWM’s Duke Divinity School 2018-19 academic year intern. We appreciate his perspectives on justice issues and his willingness to pitch in a do whatever came up. And a special thank you on his work organizing and promoting the major action at Circle K and supporting FLOC's boycott of Reynolds American e-cigarette VUSE. And if you gave a donation to NFWM in the past six months, you likely got a thank you acknowledgement from Eric. His faithfulness to that task is very much appreciated.
We wish Eric a wonderful future and much success building a program in the Montgomery, AL area to address food insecurity in low income communities.
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NFWM Supports These Boycotts led by our Farm Worker Partners.
We hope you will, too!
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National Farm Worker Ministry | 919.807.8707 | nfwm@nfwm.org | nfwm.org
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