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Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodists together |
October 2004 |
Boycott of Mt. Olive Pickle Co. ends
By Bill Norton
RALEIGH, N.C. (UMNS) - The boycott of Mt. Olive Pickle Co. by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee-an action supported by the United Methodist Church-has ended with the signing of two agreements Sept. 16.
The United Methodist Church joined the boycott last spring following action by its top lawmaking body, the 2004 General Conference. The boycott called for collective bargaining to improve working conditions for farm workers in North Carolina.
"My thinking is we joined the FLOC boycott, and since it is over, then the church's boycott of Mt. Olive has ended," said Jim Winkler, top staff executive of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society, the denomination's social action agency.
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee and the North Carolina Growers Association signed a collective bargaining agreement that covers an estimated 8,500 federal H-2A guest workers from Mexico and other Latin American countries who work on about 1,000 farms. It does not cover workers who may be in the state illegally.
In a separate agreement with the union to settle the boycott, Mt. Olive agreed to increase payments for cucumbers in North Carolina and Ohio by 2.25 percent annually for the next three years, to provide a 3 percent annual supplement to growers providing workers' compensation insurance coverage, and to expand its code of conduct for North Carolina suppliers and growers.
The Ohio-based Farm Labor Organizing Committee, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, is a labor union representing migrant farm workers. The North Carolina Growers Association's members recruit workers under the federal H-2A program. Mt. Olive, a privately held corporation, has the second-best selling brand of pickles in the United States.
The union contract is believed to be the first in North Carolina agriculture and for an H-2A employer.
From the time the boycott of Mt. Olive began in 1999 until it ended Sept. 16, the company said it took steps to address farm worker issues, such as creating a code of conduct and providing education and incentives for good farm employment practices by its suppliers.
It worked with the United Methodist Church's North Carolina Annual (regional) Conference and United Methodist-related Duke University to address specific worker concerns. The company has commissioned and is helping fund the construction of new worker housing.
The Board of Church and Society is expected to take a formal vote at its Oct. 14-17 meeting to officially end its boycott of Mt. Olive.
Winkler said the board, which worked on the Mt. Olive situation for five years, will monitor progress on the agreements.
Bill Norton is director of communications for the United Methodist Church's North Carolina Annual Conference.
Last updated on 25 Apr 2008