What Oxfam is Doing
- Preserving a Living for Familiy Farmers
- Protecting Workers' Rights
- Supporting Native Americans Affected by Mining
PROTECTING WORKERS' RIGHTS
Oxfam is tackling rural poverty and injustice in American fields, Native American reservations, corporate boardrooms, and the halls of government.
Farmworkers and food-processing workers are among the lowest-paid workers in the US. Since many are undocumented—more than 90 percent have crossed the border from Latin America—they are especially vulnerable to abuse and unlikely to speak out against injustices.
Oxfam and our partners help workers:
- Understand and defend their rights; and
- Target corporations that are paying impossibly low prices and fostering unjust conditions for workers.
In 2003, Oxfam and our partners launched a national Workers' Rights Campaign to challenge the conditions in US fields. Already, two partners have scored major victories with corporations to improve the conditions for workers in American fields.
Case-in-point: Drawing Attention to the Abuse of Farmworkers
In the fields, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) helps Florida farmworkers peacefully confront growers who abuse them. In 2003, CIW gained national recognition for its work, drawing much-needed attention to the terrible conditions in Florida fields. In the boardroom, with Oxfam's help, CIW challenged Taco Bell parent company Yum Brands to pay a fair price for Florida-grown tomatoes. In 2005, CIW signed an agreement with Taco Bell that included increased wages for workers and higher labor standards. Today, CIW is looking to put similar agreements in place with McDonald’s, Burger King, and Subway.
