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 …
“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.
On September 10th, Baldemar Velasquez was re-elected as President of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee at the 14th Constitutional Convention.
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In a historic win for farmworkers and organized labor, FLOC and its allies overturned part of North Carolina’s Farm Act earlier this month. A federal court struck down part of the state law that would have stripped farmworkers and their union of their rights to bargain for voluntary union recognition in settling legal claims. This …
Read more “FEDERAL COURT RULING A MAJOR VICTORY FOR FLOC AND FARMWORKER RIGHTS”
We would like to tell you the story of Jessica Molina. Jessica is the youngest daughter to founding FLOC members Gregorio and Margarita, Jessica grew up in an environment inspired by leadership and activism. As witness to her parent’s participation in numerous marches and boycotts, she would soon follow in their footsteps, advocating for underrepresented …
Read more “Veteran Farm Worker Family to Represent FLOC at White House Event”
O.J. SMITH FARMS, KENT SMITH FARMS, THE BASS FARMS, GREENLEAF NURSERY CO., THE BAILEY BROTHERS FARM Dear Sisters and Brothers, Over the last several weeks, delegations of farm workers and community supporters delivered written notices to employers in support of FLOC members calling for an end to abuses and corruption in their workplace. They …
Read more “Sign Our Petition! Ask these growers to: SUPPORT HUMAN RIGHTS ON THEIR FARMS!”
Where in the world is FLOC and what are we doing? A few snap shots of a recent week – this is not an exhaustive list but is a great sample of one of our weeks. 1. Our VP Justin Flores was in Berlin Germany meeting with other union leaders and members from all over …
On July 6th Juan Jose Ceballos, only 32 years old, died in the fields in North Carolina. Juan came to the United States under the H-2A guestworker visa and through the farm labor contractor (FLC), Gracia & Sons LLC. OSHA is currently investigating the cause of Juan’s death, yet this is not the first time that Gracia & Sons LLC have undergone investigations due to workplace conditions and treatment of farm workers.
Según el Acuerdo de Negociación Colectiva de FLOC, los trabajadores de las granjas de la NCGA tienen derecho a tomar descansos según sea necesario. Ante esto, FLOC ha desarrollado medidas de protección para mantener seguros a los trabajadores en casos de calor extremo. Cuando las temperaturas se acercan a los 85°F (29.5°C): si experimenta los …
On World Day Against Child Labor, we sat down with our staff who worked in the fields as children.
We are very saddened to announce the passing of Jack Kilroy, one of FLOC’s longtime supporters, organizers and leaders. No one could ask for a better friend, a better comrade in the midst of battle than Jack Kilroy. Jack was our San Patricio warrior that never stepped back from shoulder to shoulder in our fight with the Campbell Soup growers, or the sheriff’s department even when beaten, harassed and targeted.
BREAKING NEWS: FLOC has revisited and is now unilaterally implementing heat protection guidelines for more than 9,000 farm workers covered in our collective bargaining agreement in the Southern United States. These are some of the strongest guidelines in the United States, and our members are a handful of outdoor workers who have heat protections. Today we are strengthening The Mesa/Ordas Rule negotiated with the NCGA in 2006, which made FLOC the first group to address heat issues for farm workers in North Carolina in a concrete negotiated way. Heat stress issues were important then and even more so now.
This week the Farm Labor Organizing Committee went to Mexico City and met with elected officials in Mexico to discuss the plight of migrant farm workers and represent our members’ concerns in a groundbreaking meeting at the Mexican Senate.
This International Women’s Day (IWD) we must stand with our sisters across the globe who are fighting for their rights in and outside of the workplace. Gender inequality is a trade union issue, and we must acknowledge how it exacerbates labor exploitation, especially in agriculture. To commemorate IWD, we sat down with FLOC member …
Read more “International Women’s Day with FLOC Member Yvonne!”
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), with support from the Campaign for Migrant Worker Justice, just concluded a two-year organizing campaign resulting in a collective bargaining agreement covering workers at an agricultural packing shed at Battleboro Produce in Rocky Mount, North Carolina! This is an unprecedented win for immigrant workers in the deep South. At a signing ceremony on Monday, January 30th, workers, organizers, FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez and director of Battleboro Produce Joel Boseman came together to celebrate and sign the collective bargaining agreement.
At 7:30am workers begin filing into the large tin building, surrounded by heavy machinery and pallets stacked high. Tucked away amongst sweet potato farms in rural North Carolina sat an agricultural packing shed that is part of Battleboro Produce. Here workers, the majority of whom are women and from Mexico, sort and pack sweet potatoes …
Read more “What does it take to organize a group of immigrant workers in the deep South?”
Check out FLOC and CMWJ’s 2023 Impact Report!