Get Sunday before Labor Day resources
August 2010 - The PC(USA) observes the Sunday before Labor Day as Christian Vocation Sunday. On this day it is appropriate for us to reflect on the church “at work” together with God. Below are several prayers you may wish to use during worship or for your own reflection.
Interfaith Worker Justice has prepared other resources for the Sunday before Labor Day.
CIW and Sodexo Sign Fair Food Agreement!
August 2010 – On August 24, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers signed its ninth fair food agreement with food service giant Sodexo! Sodexo provides food service on a number of Presbyterian-related college campuses. With this agreement the three largest foodservice providers on U.S. campuses, Compass, Aramark and Sodexo, are now all working with the CIW!
“Together with Sodexo and our other partners, we are building a system of real accountability, with tangible consequences for growers who fail to protect farm workers’ basic rights,” said Lucas Benitez of the CIW. “It is our belief that such accountability, with worker input, will be the foundation for lasting improvements in the industry.” Read more
Modern-Day Slavery Museum on tour
A side view of the Modern-Day Slavery Museum truck. Photo courtesy of CIW.
July 2010 – On Sunday, July 25, members of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Va., joined hundreds of people who braved 100 degree temperatures to view the CIW’s Modern-Day Slavery Museum which is making a northeast tour, stopping in Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York City, Providence and Boston. Presbyterians across the northeast are busy hosting and promoting the museum. The Church of the Pilgrims PC(USA) in D.C., Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton and Iglesia Presbiteriana Hispana in Paterson, N.J. will all serve as sites for this mobile museum where the public can come, learn and work to end modern-day slavery in the U.S. fields.
The centerpiece of the Modern-Day Slavery Museum is a replica of the cargo box truck in which farmworkers were held against their will in a recent slavery case in Florida (U.S. vs. Navarrete, 2008).
U.S. State Department recognizes Laura Germino of CIW as antitrafficking “hero”
Laura Germino in black, facing camera. Photo courtesy of CIW.
Ten years ago, with the passage in Congress of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (the law used to bring criminal charges of slavery against employers in the U.S. today), the U.S. State Department began issuing a yearly report on trends in international slavery and efforts to combat it, called the “Trafficking in Persons” (TIP) report.
As part of the annual TIP report release, the State Department recognizes the efforts of a handful of individuals from around the world who have shown extraordinary commitment and leadership in the fight against slavery, TIP “Heroes” as the State Department calls them.
This year, Laura Germino, the CIW’s Anti-Slavery Campaign coordinator, has been chosen to receive this terrific distinction, and when she does, she will be the first U.S.-based recipient to receive the recognition. Further, the State Department has requested that the CIW's Modern-Day Slavery Museum serve as the backdrop for the 2010 TIP report ceremony.
Learn more about the PC(USA)’s efforts against human trafficking.
The prophet Isaiah reminds us that God desires we “let the oppressed go free and break every yoke” (Isaiah 58:6b). We give thanks for Laura and the work of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, for the thousands of farmworkers they have assisted and the way in which they have helped the PC(USA) bear witness to God’s intention of well-being for all people.
Photo courtesy of Jacque-Jean Tiziou.
Email Publix CEO: Work with CIW!
April 2010 – We invite you to send an e-mail today to Publix Super Markets urging them to finally work with the CIW to improve wages and conditions for Florida tomato pickers. For more than a year, Florida-based Publix, one of the 10 largest private companies in the country, has resisted joining in the growing movement for fair food.
On Friday, April 16, hundreds of farmworkers and supporters will embark on the Farmworker Freedom March from Tampa to Publix’s headquarters in Lakeland, Florida. Send Publix CEO Mr. Ed Crenshaw an email to express your support for the Farmworker Freedom March. If you can't join us for next week’s march, this e-mail action is a great way to make your voice heard in the growing chorus for farmworker dignity. And if you will be coming, you can let Publix know that in your email!
CIW, Aramark Forge Agreement
April 2010 – As mobilization continues for the Farmworker Freedom March to Lakeland, Fla., headquarters of Publix April 16-18, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Aramark Corporation have announced they’ve forged a fair food agreement to advance the human rights of farmworkers. The Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Rev. Gradye Parsons has released a statement commending the principals.
Aramark joins seven other major retail corporations that are working with the CIW to address modern-day slavery and end the conditions in which it flourishes: poverty and farmworker powerlessness. The agreement features the hallmark zero-tolerance policy for slavery by which Aramark guarantees it will cut off purchases from growers who have used slave labor to harvest tomatoes. Aramark also will pay a penny per pound increase to farmworkers harvesting tomatoes for its Florida suppliers to dramatically and immediately improve their wages. Now let’s get Publix, Sodexo, Kroger and Ahold to do the same!