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Activists from Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice, Third Unitarian Social Action and Fair Food Chicago will host an informational picket of the Trader Joe’s store in La Grange from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday.
It will be the fourth area picket of a Trader Joe's store in protest of the chain's refusal to sign an agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) representatives for tomato pickers in Florida.
"CIW has not asked for a boycott of Trader Joe's,” Riverside resident and Green Party Candidate Laurel Lambert Schmidt said. “I shop there regularly and would not like to stop. Instead, we hope this informational campaign will give management the impetus to sign."
Fast food chain McDonald's, among others, signed on with CIW before a boycott was called.
The informational picket will take place on the street side of the store, as the parking lot adjacent to the Trader Joe's entrance was deemed private property. Protesters will hold signs at the three entrances to the parking lot. Afterward, protesters will present letters of protest to the management in the store.
According to the CIW, the agreements require those companies to demand more humane labor standards from their Florida tomato suppliers (including a zero-tolerance policy for slavery), to pay a price premium for more fairly produced tomatoes, and to shift purchases to growers who meet those higher standards.
Several Florida tomato growers have shown their early support for this effort by agreeing to pass along the pay premium to their tomato harvesters, and to abide by a code of conduct under which workers have a voice and slavery is not tolerated.
Activists from Near West Citizens for Peace and Justice, Third Unitarian Social Action and Fair Food Chicago will host an informational picket of the Trader Joe’s store in La Grange from noon to 1 p.m. Saturday.
It will be the fourth area picket of a Trader Joe's store in protest of the chain's refusal to sign an agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) representatives for tomato pickers in Florida.
"CIW has not asked for a boycott of Trader Joe's,” Riverside resident and Green Party Candidate Laurel Lambert Schmidt said. “I shop there regularly and would not like to stop. Instead, we hope this informational campaign will give management the impetus to sign."
Fast food chain McDonald's, among others, signed on with CIW before a boycott was called.
The informational picket will take place on the street side of the store, as the parking lot adjacent to the Trader Joe's entrance was deemed private property. Protesters will hold signs at the three entrances to the parking lot. Afterward, protesters will present letters of protest to the management in the store.
According to the CIW, the agreements require those companies to demand more humane labor standards from their Florida tomato suppliers (including a zero-tolerance policy for slavery), to pay a price premium for more fairly produced tomatoes, and to shift purchases to growers who meet those higher standards.
Several Florida tomato growers have shown their early support for this effort by agreeing to pass along the pay premium to their tomato harvesters, and to abide by a code of conduct under which workers have a voice and slavery is not tolerated.
