US and Mexico in Joint Bid to Protect Workers Maura Maxwell - FruitNet.com
go to original January 12, 2015

Product of Mexico: Behind the Series - Los Angeles Times reporter Richard Marosi and photojournalist Don Bartletti explain what it took to get access to places that have long escaped outside scrutiny. (Los Angeles Times)

A new initiative is being launched by members of the US and Mexican produce industries to improve conditions for workers at Mexican farms in the wake of an investigation by the Los Angeles Times into the widespread ill treatment of laborers at companies supplying some of the leading retailers and restaurants in the US.

The project, provisionally called the International Fresh Produce Social Responsibility Alliance, is seeking to address some of the issues highlighted by the newspaper including poor living conditions and the illegal withholding on pay to prevent workers leaving during peak harvest periods. It includes the Fresh Produce Association of the Americas (FPAA), a group representing more than 100 US importers and distributors of Mexican produce, and the Sinaloa-based Confederation of Agribusiness Associations (CAA), which represents some of the companies biggest exporters. Between them the two groups are responsible for 80 per cent of US-bound Mexican produce.

CAA director Mario Robles told the LA Times that the aim of the new initiative is to ensure that all laws are properly applied. “If the laws say pay every week, then that has to be. Companies that don’t will have to leave the alliance,” he said.

Read the rest at FruitNet.com

View the entire Product of Mexico series at The Los Angeles Times:

Part 1: Farm exports to the U.S. from Mexico have tripled to $7.6 billion in the last decade, enriching agribusinesses, distributors and retailers. But for thousands of farm laborers south of the border, the boom is a story of exploitation and extreme hardship.

Part 2: A raid exposes brutal conditions at Bioparques, one of Mexico's biggest tomato exporters, which was a Wal-Mart supplier. But the effort to hold the grower accountable is looking more like a tale of impunity.

Part 3: The company store is supposed to be a lifeline for migrant farm laborers. But inflated prices drive people deep into debt. Many go home penniless, obliged to work off their debts at the next harvest.

Part 4: About 100,000 children under 14 pick crops for pay at small- and mid-size farms across Mexico, where child labor is illegal. Some of the produce they harvest reaches American consumers, helping to power an export boom.

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