1978
|
2,300 farmworkers vote to strike farms contracted to Campbell Soup, demanding
collective bargaining to set wages and working conditions. Campbell claims
it does not employ farmworkers and only works with its growers, though it
supports growers in dealing with the strike. Campbell refuses to negotiate
with FLOC. |
1979
|
FLOC holds its first Constitutional Convention. Workers call for a national
boycott of Campbell Soup to support their struggle for a direct voice in their
own conditions. |
1980-1982
|
FLOC continues organizing farmworkers, particularly strikebreakers brought in to
work the fields, and also builds the boycott among community groups, faith
organizations, labor unions, and others. FLOC holds its second Constitutional
Convention in 1982. |
| 1983 |
FLOC conducts 560-mile march from Toledo, Ohio, to Campbell Soup headquarters in
Camden, N.J. |
| 1984 |
FLOC organizes pickle workers, adding some 1,900 new members. |
1985
|
Under a preliminary agreement with Campbell Soup and its grower associations, a private
labor commission if formed to mediate labor relations. Elections are conducted
on pickle farms, which FLOC wins. Over 3,100 more farmworkers join FLOC. In the
third Constitutional Convention, delegates resolve to continue the struggle for
contracts. |
1986
|
FLOC signs innovative three-way contracts with Campbell Soup and its growers in
Ohio and Michigan, setting labor history. Union recognition is won, along with
wage increases and benefits. |
1987-1991
|
FLOC expands its gains with other companies, including Heinz, Aunt Jane's, Green Bay,
expanding those under contract to over 8,000 workers. The fourth Constitutional
Convention is held in 1988. Contracts are renegotiated on a regular bases, increasing
farmworkers benefits. In 1991, FLOC holds its fifth Constitutional Convention. |
1992-present
|
FLOC becomes affiliated with the AFL-CIO. FLOC continues to expand its gains to cover
all pickle operations in Ohio and Michigan, and workers enjoy increased benefits,
including wage increases, a guaranteed federal minimum wage during low harvest weeks,
workers compensation, unemployment compensation, and Social Security benefits. FLOC
builds relations with U.S. and international farmworker and other groups. |
| 1993-1996
|
FLOC begins organizing campaign in North Carolina, the second major pickle-producing
region in the U.S. outside the Midwest. Investigations indicate that in an anti-union
"right-to-work" state working conditions are deplorable and reflect the
continuity from slavery and tenant farmers. There are many H2A "guest workers",
who have no say in who their employer is, experience intense intimidation, and suffer
retaliation if they complain, including being blacklisted from future employment. |
1997
|
FLOC approaches Mt. Olive Pickle Company, the country's second largest pickle producer,
and invites it to enter into multi-party contracts like those in the Midwest. Mt.
Olive responds with the same initial argument that Campbell Soup did, that it is not
responsible for farmworkers and only works with its growers. Farmworkers on farms
producing Mt. Olive pickles continue to sign union authorization cards for FLOC to
represent them. |
1998-2003
|
FLOC workers and supporters hold rallies and marches to bring attention to the struggle.
FLOC organizers are arrested for trespass on an Mt. Olive farm with a recent history
of slavery, but charges are dismissed in recognition of the rights of workers to have
visitors. Human Rights Watch releases a report that exposes the suppression of human
and worker rights among migrant and H2A workers in N.C. One worker dies of pesticide
exposure after symptoms were ignored and medical treatment are refused. FLOC attorney
wins a $110,000 settlement for his family in Mexico |
2004
|
FLOC begins negotiations with Mt. Olive and the North Carolina Growers Association. On
September 15, FLOC signs a labor agreement, which covers 8,000 H2A workers on 1,050
farms across N.C. and a wide range of crops. Thousands of grievances are processed,
and workers win wages and back pay which had been unjustly denied them. For the first
time since the days of slavery in the South and for the first time in the history of U.S.
temporary "guest workers", agricultural workers have a direct voice in their
own working conditions through their union. FLOC opens an office in Monterrey Mexico
to help the new members with the processing of their work visas and to train workers
about their new rights under the union contract.
|
| 2005 |
FLOC workers in N.C. organize and hold an assembly, and after discussions and debate
passed ten resolutions that guide the union in addressing issues of concern. |