Farmworkers get Ben & Jerry’s to sign 'Milk with Dignity’
By Minnie Bruce Pratt
In a dramatic development on Oct. 3, Migrant Justice/Justicia Migrante announced cancellation of a national dairy worker day of action — because of a resounding victory. The ice cream empire of Ben & Jerry’s was signing a historic agreement guaranteeing improvements in wages, work schedules, housing, and health and safety protections for all dairy farms in the corporation’s supply chain. (migrantjustice.net)
After a militant, seven-year campaign by Vermont farmworkers, the corporation finally buckled. Farmworker leaders, along with Ben & Jerry’s CEO Jostein Solheim, signed the “Milk with Dignity/Leche con Dignidad” agreement Oct. 3 in front of the company’s flagship store in Burlington, Vt.
Though the traditionally “liberal” corporation is getting media credit for being the first dairy industry company to sign on, the real groundbreaking news is that all standards of the Milk with Dignity plan were worker-developed and worker-driven, and that the legally binding agreement mandates Ben & Jerry’s to acquire its milk solely from farms adhering to those standards. The agreement will impact 1,200 to 1,500 workers, many undocumented immigants, at 90 farms.
