On September 5th, José Arturo González Mendoza tragically died while working on a farm within the North Carolina Growers Association (NCGA). Mendoza was 30 years old and left behind a wife and two children in Guanajuato, Mexico. We are devastated by this loss of life and are waiting for the results of the Department of …
In the past month, two farmworkers have died due to heat related illnesses while working in the fields in the United States. Efraín, a young 29-year-old passed away in South Florida after experiencing signs of heat illness. After trying to cool off, he got up to go back to work, but then was found on the ground unresponsive. Dario, who was only 26 years old, passed away after working in over 90-degree heat in Yuma, Arizona, during a week with record-breaking temperatures rising over 100 degrees days in a row. The deaths of these two young men are incomprehensible because they were preventable. The
FLOC will work with the federal Office of Labor-Management Standards to set a historical precedent on how the federal government can govern migrant and foreign workers in union elections.
FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez and Secretary Treasurer Christiana Wagner attended the 28th Congress of the International Union of Food, Agriculture, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco, and Allied Workers’ Association (IUF) in Geneva, Switzerland. The IUF is an international federation of trade unions across the globe that we have been affiliated with for over a decade now. …
Read more “FLOC Leaders go to Geneva, Cultivate Solidarity and Meet with Big Tobacco!”
Three Virginia FLOC members are currently being sued for defamation in retaliation for supporting and actively participating in union activities. These members are single mothers, sole providers for their families, and immigrants of varying statuses. FLOC remains steadfast in supporting these women and we are asking our allies to do the same.
On April 19th, FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez and staff attended British American Tobacco’s Annual General Meeting to share with the executive board and shareholders the human rights abuses occurring in their supply chain. President Velasquez asked BAT Chairman Luc Jobin during the meeting,
“How and when will BAT do a serious effort to engage and address the serious inequities in the workforce that comes to harvest and cultivate the tobacco in its supply chain?”
FLOC Continues Struggle with British American Tobacco and Subsidiary Reynolds American Tobacco at Annual General Meeting in London PRESS RELEASE London, England- On Wednesday, April 19th FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez will be appearing at the British American Tobacco’s (BAT) Annual General Meeting. President Velasquez will communicate directly with shareholders concerning the ongoing inequities and abuses …
Listen to FLOC Vice President Cruz Díaz Montalvo discuss his thoughts on the union, his experience being a farm worker for 31 years, and his call to action to other workers!
“We are responsible from this moment forward, we are the voice of the union!” This past weekend, we met in Mexico City where over 15 H2A workers and staff came together to form our 2023 Union Advisory Committee. The committee’s role is to advise the union leadership on what is happening on the ground, to …
Reflections of FLOC President and Founder Baldemar Velasquez on Black History Month and the importance of Black Brown Unity for social change.