Thread: Tomato Growers, Farm Workers Reach Deal

NOVEMBER 16, 2010, 3:41 P.M. ET.

Tomato Growers, Farm Workers Reach Deal

Associated Press

IMMOAKALEE, Fla.—The growers who produce the bulk of the country's winter tomatoes have reached a major deal with farm workers on better pay and conditions, ending more than a decade-long battle.

The new deal activates agreements with food chains such as McDonald's, Taco Bell and Burger King. The pacts have been on hold for years because the farmers who supply the tomatoes to the chains have refused to implement them.
Workers will receive an extra penny for every pound of tomatoes they pick under the deal announced Tuesday by the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange and pickers with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

For years, the coalition has pressed growers to boost wages and protect Florida tomato pickers from abuse in the field.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... NewsSecond

In my opinion the tomatoes I get in the grocery stores around here S*&K! As do some other produce found in chain stores.

I remember reading years ago that McDonald's, Taco Bell and Burger King were pushing the growers to pay 1 penny a pound more for their tomatoes but I never realized that the growers didn't go through with the deal.