Farmworkers, religious leaders, and labor organizers gathered Tuesday at noon at a community center in Leicester and then drove together to the nursery operated by Costa Farms, 20 minutes from the city of Asheville in western North Carolina.
The action was part of a national campaign driven by nursery workers in South Florida, and its objective was to deliver a petition to management for better working conditions.
“The lawsuits seek company-wide changes so that protections reach workers in all Costa operations, including Leicester,” he told Enlace Latino NC Madi Paez, organizer of WeCount! and coordinator of the action.
Costa Farms is the world's largest producer of ornamental plants. Their plants, for example, are the ones you can buy at stores like Lowe's, Home Depot, IKEA, Costco, and Walmart.
WeCount! estimates that between 2,000 and 3,000 people work in plant production at the company's operations in the country. At the Leicester farm, there are 162 employees, and approximately 93% speak Spanish, according to the company.
The campaign is called Sowing Justice and it is driven by WeCount!, an immigrant workers' organization based in Homestead, Florida, where Costa Farms has its main operation.
The petition was delivered
The group traveled to the company's facilities in Leicester, a rural town in Buncombe county, and there delivered the request with more than 2,800 signatures. “Management listened to our delegation and committed to sharing our message with headquarters,” Paez said.
However, when contacted by this media outlet, the company responded that it does not plan to join the program.
The document requires that it accept an independent monitoring system for its operations, with protective measures against wage theft, extreme heat, and other factors. pesticide exposure and sexual harassment.
The text argues that behind the nursery industry in the United States “lies an invisible crisis” and that Costa Farms “has the power to transform an industry that urgently needs reforms.”
The Sowing Justice model was inspired by the Fair Food Program of the Immokalee Workers Coalition, which operates in the tomato industry in Florida. The workers themselves draft a code of conduct, and an external entity verifies its compliance throughout the year.
Community support
“No company can call itself prosperous or successful at the expense of the life, safety, health, and well-being of its workers,” said Delia Jovel, co-founder of Fertile Land Coop, a Latin agricultural cooperative that has been operating in Leicester since last year.
“We cannot continue to normalize supporting an industry that beautifies spaces but deteriorates the lives of those who sustain it,” he said, and concluded by guaranteeing his movement’s support for the nursery workers: “We are with you, and this struggle is also a cooperative one.”
For his part, Larry Sorrells, vice president of the North Carolina State AFL-CIOThe state's labor federation stated that "Costa Farms workers are essential to a $50 billion indoor plant industry."
“Without them, the company would have no plants to sell, and consumers wouldn’t have the plants they enjoy. Farmworkers pay taxes and buy goods and services that add value to their communities and the country. These employees and their families deserve fair wages and safe working conditions.”
Finally, Reverend Claudia Jimenez, treasurer of the NC Council of Churches, emphasized that “it is the duty of organizations that employ people to respect their dignity.”
“We are here to join the voices of the workers, to demand justice, fair treatment, and respect for their dignity,” she said. Also speaking were Pastor Sara Wilcox of Land of the Sky United Church of Christ and Reverend Oscar Rozo of the Episcopal Diocese of Western North Carolina.
What the report documents
The conditions that prompted the campaign are documented in South Florida, not North Carolina. The report “The Human Cost of Houseplants,” published by WeCount!, describes a workforce composed predominantly of low-income immigrant women.
The report documents a lack of water, shade, and rest in extreme heat; high rates of accidents, illnesses, and injuries; wage theft, sexual harassment, and discrimination; exposure to toxic pesticides; absence of paid sick days or vacations; and retaliation against those who claim their rights.
The report gave rise to the documentary “No Shadow, No Rest,” which Just Economics and WeCount! produced. They screened in Asheville in March.
The origin of the claim in Homestead
The action in Leicester stemmed from a call by Homestead workers to the communities where Costa Farms operates, Paez explained. The company has its main farming operation in South Florida, and it is there that WeCount! documented the conditions in the industry.
The campaign also seeks to create space for workers at other company facilities to raise their voices.
“In Asheville, we’ve seen what can happen when workers organize to get better wages, protections, and respect at work,” said Mike Holmes, a community organizer. Just Economics"Too often, farmworkers across the South have been left out of these advances," the campaign said in a statement.
“Nursery workers know what it takes to make their workplaces safer and more dignified,” said Kathleen Wood, executive director of the National Farm Worker Ministry.
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The company's response
Costa Farms Justin Hancock, the company's Director of Research and Development, responded via email that he has no plans to join the Sowing Justice program. Enlace Latino NC .
“We already do virtually everything WeCount asks a company to do when joining the program, except pay for it,” Hancock wrote. He maintained that the protections the campaign demands already exist within the company and are verified by independent auditors.
Hancock listed a plan to prevention of heat-related illnesses with mandatory breaks and cold water, paid training on heat and pesticides, an anonymous reporting hotline and a human rights manual in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole.
He also stated that these external audits did not detect any critical legal breaches at any of his properties, including the one in Leicester. Enlace Latino NC He was unable to independently verify these audits.
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