Food giant paves way for higher pay in the fields

The world’s largest catering business has become the latest company to agree new labour standards with Florida’s tomato pickers in a deal that could increase wages by two-thirds.

The Compass Group, which buys ten million pounds of tomatoes annually, will pay 1.5 cents (about 1p) extra per pound to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a south Florida farmworkers’ organization. One cent will go directly to workers.

The policy will boost wages from 50 to 82 cents (30p-50p) per 32lb bucket of tomatoes. The decision also binds Compass to a strict code of conduct to monitor working hours and employee safety in its supply chain. East Coast Growers and Packers, Florida’s third-largest tomato grower, has already agreed to Compass’s terms.

The agreement is the latest in a series between businesses and the CIW. This time last year the US supermarket chain Whole Foods Market agreed to pay an extra ‘penny-per-pound’ for tomatoes (EP10, issue 6, p7), and the fast-food outlets Burger King, McDonald’s and Taco Bell have all signed similar agreements.