Camp Solidarity is a one day immersion experience into the world of agriculture and farmworkers in Eastern North Carolina. It is a chance for visitors to learn more about the challenges many farmworkers face in their day to day lives, visit the labor camps to see living and working conditions with their own eyes, and talk with workers to share stories and build relationships of solidarity throughout the community.
The program runs June through August, and due to limited resources we can only facilitate a certain number of visits per season. If you are interested in organizing a Camp Solidarity visit, please email flocnc@floc.com.
Past Camp Solidarity Visitors
On Friday July 25, 2014 through Sunday July 27, 2014; U.S Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) and British Members of Parliament Ian Lavery and James Sheridan participated in a fact-finding delegation to North Carolina fields to examine the human rights conditions in the supply chain of British and American tobacco manufacturers. This binational delegation was joined by AFL-CIO Executive Vice President Tefere Gebre and FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez. Read more
On Saturday August 17, 2013, FLOC hosted AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Schuler for a Camp Solidarity visit. Accompanying her were five organizers from the United Steel Workers, representatives from the NC AFL-CIO, President of Farmworker Justice Bruce Goldstein, and several other FLOC supporters and allies. Read more
On Saturday, June 8, 2013 FLOC hosted Camp Solidarity for delegates from various organizations and unions in North Carolina, including the N.C. AFL-CIO, A. Philip Randolph Institute, Alliance for Retired Americans, Amalgamated Transit Union, the Triangle CLC and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Read more
On Thursday September 20, 2012 FLOC hosted a Camp Solidarity visit with members of the Beloved Community Center (BCC). The Beloved Community Center is a community based organization that is committed to grassroots empowerment, especially among minorities, within the context and spirit of forging a beloved community for all residents. Read more.
On August 29, 2012 Greg Junemann, International President of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE), attended Camp Solidarity. He was joined by representatives from the Embassy of Japan and the Embassy of Taiwan, who also were interested in learning more about labor organizing in agriculture. Read more
In July, 2012, representatives from the National and State AFL-CIO joined FLOC for a Camp Solidarity visit. Arlene Holt Baker, Executive Vice President of the AFL-CIO, Fred Redmond, International Vice President of the United Steelworkers, and James Andrews, President of the North Carolina AFL-CIO, spent the day with FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez touring the fields and labor camps of NC.
At the Executive Council meeting of the AFL-CIO shortly after the visit, all of the visitors spoke passionately about the need for all affiliates to support farmworkers in their struggle to organize. Vice President Holt Baker pledged to send a letter to Reynolds encouraging them to work with FLOC, signed by herself, President Trumka, and Secretary Treasurer Shuler.
In order to help spread awareness about dire conditions in NC and the urgency of the organizing work, Vice President Holt Baker created the video below, which was also shown to all of the members of the AFL-CIO Executive Council.