A five-year boycott of the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. has ended in victory for both migrant farmer workers in North Carolina and social justice advocates who supported their campaign to gain the right to unionize..

The approximately 8,000 agricultural “guest workers” are the first such workers to gain union representation and a contract. The agreement was reached between the Mt. Olive Pickle Co., one of the largest pickle producers in the country, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) and the North Carolina Growers Association.

The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee was among more than 300 organizations to endorse the boycott, which also was the focus of a UUSC workcamp in 2002 and 2003 in Greenville, N.C. The workcamp, called “Justice in the Fields,” brought together dozens of volunteers from around the country to examine the living and working conditions of migrant farm workers.

“The workcamp put faces and names on farm workers and clear images on how they live and the problems they face,” said Al Benford, a workcamp volunteer from Manchester, Conn.

The volunteers visited farm workers in their camps, explored their concerns and their struggle to earn a living wage, and showed their support of the farm workers by picketing and handing out leaflets at a local Kroger's supermarket. They encouraged shoppers to boycott Mt. Olive Pickle and support farm worker rights.

Advocates also responded to an action alert issued by UUSC in collaboration with FLOC by writing letters to the president of Mt. Olive Pickle Co. urging the company to negotiate a fair act with the farm workers that would provide them a living wage and an opportunity to improve the lives of their families.

The agreement with Mr. Olive Pickle represents the first time in United States history that so-called “guest workers,” such as the approximately 8,000 farm workers in North Carolina, have won union representation and a contract. The agreement covers more than 1,000 North Carolina farms, and increases wages to workers and prices to growers by more than 10 percent over the next three years.

In refusing to recognize the bargaining rights of the farm workers, the company had argued that Mt. Olive bears no responsibility for their wages and working conditions because it does not employ them. It said the company contracts with cucumber growers and suppliers and not the farm workers directly.

For more information about FLOC, the Mt. Olive boycott and the historic labor agreement, visit FLOC's website.

Posted Nov. 30, 2004