Naples Daily News: The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has reached an agreement with Subway to pay workers a penny more per pound of tomatoes picked. Under the agreement, Connecticut-based Subway has also agreed to have an outside entity verify the money was passed on to workers.
The coalition said collaboration also provides for a more stringent supplier code of conduct that includes farmworker participation in the monitoring of growers' compliance and strict "zero tolerance" guidelines for the most egregious labor rights violations. Subway has taken the additional step of extending these higher standards to the vendor code of conduct governing its entire supply chain, not just tomatoes.
The deal mirrors earlier agreements with Taco Bell, McDonald's and Burger King.
BusinessWeek reports that those deals have existed on paper, however, because the industry group representing Florida tomato growers has refused to allow its members to participate.
