The food movement’s final frontier: Taking care of workers

[bunkie]

The food movement’s final frontier: Taking care of workers

http://grist.org/food/the-food-movem...re-of-workers/

....Like farm work, meatpacking and other food processing work has become a last resort in this country. And while the harsh conditions Rita describes don’t apply to everyone working in her sector, they’re not atypical either.

But getting an industry-wide view of the type of challenges food workers face hasn’t been easy. That’s where a new report called “The Hands that Feed Us,” which is based on a comprehensive survey of over 600 workers from around the food industry (and nearly 50 employers), comes into the picture. Conducted by the Food Chain Workers Alliance, the survey puts Rita’s story in full context and shines a bright light on the often invisible people behind our food.

The Hands that Feed Us looks at five aspects of the food industry — food production, processing, distribution, retail, and service — and is filled with data and policy recommendations....

[ellenr]

good one! thanks.

[roberte]

Originally Posted by bunkie

The food movement’s final frontier: Taking care of workers

http://grist.org/food/the-food-movem...re-of-workers/

....Like farm work, meatpacking and other food processing work has become a last resort in this country. And while the harsh conditions Rita describes don’t apply to everyone working in her sector, they’re not atypical either.

But getting an industry-wide view of the type of challenges food workers face hasn’t been easy. That’s where a new report called “The Hands that Feed Us,” which is based on a comprehensive survey of over 600 workers from around the food industry (and nearly 50 employers), comes into the picture. Conducted by the Food Chain Workers Alliance, the survey puts Rita’s story in full context and shines a bright light on the often invisible people behind our food.

The Hands that Feed Us looks at five aspects of the food industry — food production, processing, distribution, retail, and service — and is filled with data and policy recommendations....

Also see:

Don’t 30 Million Workers Deserve 1968 Wages?
By Ralph Nader

Thirty million American workers arise, you have nothing to lose but some of your debt!

Wednesday morning, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.) introduced the “Catching Up to 1968 Act of 2012” (H.R. 5901) – legislation to raise the federal minimum wage to $10 per hour. The present minimum wage is $7.25, way below the unrealistically low federal poverty definition of $18,123 per year for a family of three. Adjusted for inflation, the 1968 minimum wage today would be a little above $10 per hour.

Together with Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Robert Weissman, president of Public Citizen, I was pleased to be with Rep. Jackson at a news conference to explain this long-overdue necessity for millions of hard-pressed, working Americans of all political persuasions.

The policy behind the minimum wage, first enacted in 1938 under President Franklin Roosevelt, was to provide a minimally livable wage. This implied at least keeping up with inflation, if not with new living expenses not envisioned seventy-five years ago. While businesses like Walmart and McDonalds have been raising their prices and executive compensation since 1968, these companies have received a windfall from a diminishing real minimum wage paid to their workers.

The economics behind the Jackson bill are strongly supportive of moral and equitable arguments. Most economists agree that what our ailing economy needs is more consumer demand for goods and services which will create jobs. Tens of billions of dollars flowing from a $10 minimum wage will be spent by poor families and workers almost immediately.

Historically, polls have registered around 70 percent of Americans favoring a minimum wage keeping up with inflation. That number includes many Republican workers who can be consoled by learning that both Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum, during their political careers, have supported adjusting the minimum wage.

http://nader.org/2012/06/07/dont-30-...ve-1968-wages/