Campaign victory for CIW and SFA

I posted a link about the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' most recent victory in the news section, but it deserves its own post.  Yesterday it was announced the Bon Appetit Management Company, a division of Compass Group (which also owns Chartwells) agreed to boycott Florida tomatoes if growers do not agree to improve conditions and increase pay for farmworkers.  Here's a summary of the purchasing code that Bon Appetit agreed to abide by from a Washington Post article:

The code demands that growers pay the extra penny a pound immediately, and directly to the workers. It also calls for suppliers to pay a negotiated "fair minimum wage," an hourly rate higher than the federal minimum wage, which the company says does not take into account the uncertainty and difficult conditions of farm labor. 

The official press release lives here.

In other CIW-related news, a resolution at Wichita State, calling for Sodexo and the University administration to support CIW's Campaign for Fair Foods, passed 30-0 at a student government meeting last night.   Congratulations to SFA, CIW and the students and workers whose campaign efforts led to both victories.