Tomato pickers' pay raise left on the vine

MIAMI -- The future of a deal to help migrant workers who pick tomatoes earn more money was cast in doubt when Florida's largest association of growers said none of its members would participate and that it did not believe other growers would, either.

Taco Bell owner Yum Brands Inc. signed a deal with a Florida farmworker advocacy group in 2005 to pay a penny more per pound of tomatoes. The money would be passed on by growers to the workers. This year, the company added its other restaurant chains, including Pizza Hut, Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food Restaurants, to the agreement.

Following up on Yum's decision, Oak Brook-based McDonald's Corp. agreed to a similar deal with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. The deal was to go into effect for the first time this harvest season, which begins later this month.

The Florida Tomato Grower Exchange had previously said its members would not participate, but its assertion Monday that no growers would participate is new.

Reggie Brown, executive vice president of the tomato growers group, said he did not think the penny-per-pound deal was going to be put into practice this year. The group fears it would be open to lawsuits based on antitrust, labor and racketeering laws.

Brown declined to provide the legal basis for such concerns, but he called the coalition's agreements "pretty much near un-American."

Coalition spokeswoman Julia Perkins said the group believed some growers were still willing to participate, despite the exchange's announcement.

"It's another demonstration of the growers' unwillingness to recognize workers' importance," she said. "It's time for them to move the agricultural industry into this century."

Perkins said farmers have been complaining about rising labor costs. "This is an opportunity to have buyers contribute to the labor costs," she said.

Taco Bell buys roughly 110 million pounds of tomatoes a year at about $100,000, Yum vice president Jonathan Blum said. The Louisville, Ky.-based Yum's other chains buy a fraction of that amount. Yum Brands said it had two tomato suppliers in Florida last year but did not confirm how many, if any, it had this year.

"Our agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers for the Florida tomato pickers still stands," Blum said. "We think it's the right thing to do."

McDonald's said it was still in discussions with the coalition and its Florida produce suppliers and would not comment on the assertion by the Florida Tomato Grower Exchange.

Questions over the penny-per-pound deal come as the coalition is seeking to get Burger King Corp. to join the other two companies in helping tomato workers earn more.

Florida pickers harvest about 90 percent of the nation's domestic winter tomato supply. Workers are paid about 40 cents per 32-pound bucket. The extra penny a pound would nearly double their pay to about 72 cents a bucket.