National Farm Worker Ministry an interfaith organization supporting farm workers as they organize for justice member organizations include nearly 40 national, state and local religious bodies
They shall not plant and another eat; - Isaiah 65:21
When we pray and act with them, we are changed also.
- Gen Cassani, SSND
NFWM Board
Reynolds Tobacco Campaign
Do not take advantage of a hired hand who is poor and needy,
whether he is another Israelite
or an alien living in one of your towns. - Deuteronomy 24:14
150+ FLOC members & supporters make presence felt at RJ Reynolds' Annual Shareholder Meeting!!
NFWM and FLOC staff arranged an impressive presence at the RJR annual meeting in Winston-Salem on May 6, 2008. Outside, 150 rallied and distributed alternative shareholder proposals to meeting attendees. Inside, Fr. Michael Cosby presented a shareholder resolution calling on the company to respect workers' rights. NFWM Executive Director Virginia Nesmith spoke to second the resolution. As she spoke, farm workers and supporters revealed a dozen 3' X4' posters documenting the appalling conditions workers face. The resolution gained 13% support, an unusually high level for this kind of process.
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Despite several attempts by FLOC President Baldemar Velazquez and FLOC allies, Susan Ivey, CEO of RJ Reynolds, has refused to meet with FLOC to discuss conditions for farmworkers in North Carolina's tobacco fields.
Help tobacco harvesters gain respect in their work with this campaign for health and dignity in the workplace.
Show R.J. Reynolds WE WILL NOT BE SILENT while people are dying in the fields
(Background in printable view) R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company is the second-largest tobacco company in the United States, manufacturing about one of every three cigarettes sold in the country. In 2006 Reynolds American Inc. had sales in excess of $8.5 billion worldwide. While big tobacco makes billions, tobacco farmworkers live in poverty, face racism and harassment, nicotine poisoning, lethal pesticides, staggering deft, and have hardly any labor and human rights protections.
Photo University of Kentucky College of Public Health
The tragedies which occur daily in the fields are due to industry-wide problems that need to be addressed by those who have control over the tobacco market— RJ Reynolds being at the top of this list. The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) is calling on RJ Reynolds to take responsibility for the oppressive conditions in which tobacco workers labor in North Carolina. Together with FLOC, RJ Reynolds can use its tr4emendous power to initiate changes that will improve the lives of growers and farm workers alike.
Despite several attempts by FLOC President Baldemar Velazquez and allies, Susan Ivey, CEO of RJ Reynolds, has refused to meet with him to discuss conditions for farmworkers in North Carolina's tobacco fields.
Nearly 400 FLOC supporters marched in NC, calling on RJ Reynolds to improve conditions in the tobacco fields - October 28, 2007
NFWM's North Carolina staff provided significant logistical support in planning this successful event. Our director and two board members attended. NFWM is proud to stand with FLOC in this new campaign for farm worker justice in North Carolina. [Photos of event]
An energetic rally on Monday, September 24, 2007 at Lloyd Presbyterian Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was the first event of FLOC's new campaign. Workers, community members and people of faith came together from across the state to join the Farm Labor Organizing Committee's call on RJ Reynolds to address conditions in the tobacco fields of North Carolina. At the event Richard Kortiz spoke about RJ Reynolds tobacco plant workers' organizing efforts in the 1940's. More photos(video)
Supporters wait outside Lloyd Presbyterian church in Winston-Salem before the rally begins
Photo by Alex Jones
Rev. Heather McCain of the Episcopal church talks to Kyle Lambelet of the Beloved Community center in Greensboro
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