Farmworker Conference for Fair Trade Agenda

Saturday, April 28

Morning:

9:00-9:30 Welcome and Introductions

9:30-12:00 What is the landscape?
o Setting the context: Farmworker Organizing and Labor Rights: Labor Protection and Labor Law,
Labor Struggles

o Fair Trade: What it is? How it works? What are the benefits of it? What is the relationship between fair trade and organizing? What are farmworkers’ role in current fair trade, and what should it be? How will Fair Trade improve communities in the long term?

o Farmworkers and Fair Trade:
• Existing programs: Food Alliance, Equal Exchange, etc.
• International: IFOAM, FLO/Transfair
• Agricultural Justice Project overview
• Domestic Fair Trade Working Group
• Organizations: LFTN, CATA, Centro Campesino, Florida Farmworkers Association, Community to Community Development, PANNA, ILRF, other farmworker groups : Who are we? What is our work? How do we work together?

Afternoon:

1:00-3:00 Trainings
o Fair Trade Seal and Standards: What is it? How does it work? What are the
benefits of it?
o What is a fair relationship between employer and employee?
o Labor law / workers’ rights
o Contracts and negotiations

3:30-5:30 Entire group discussion of:
o current standards: Agricultural Justic Project social justice standards (en Espanol), Domestic Fair Trade Working Group principles, etc.
o Farmworker role in these kinds of programs: governance structures, inspection roles, conflict resolution (grievance) procedures, future revisions of the standards
o How can social justice labeling be used as an organizing tool by workers’ organizations?

5:30-6:00 Discussion of Sunday agenda

8:00-9:00 Teatro del Pueblo performance (tentative)

Sunday, April 29

Morning:

9:30-11:30 Small group discussions defined by group

Afternoon:

12:30-1:30 Reports back to entire group and discussion

1:45-3:15 Resolutions / Decisions
o Standards language
o Governance
o Using labeling as an organizing tool

3:45-5:30 Power Structures and Farmworker Organizing
o how participating in fair trade and social justice label programs can further worker empowerment
o how standards can be applied to other contexts (like unionization campaigns and community benefit agreements)
o creation of ongoing farmworker leadership bodies in the domestic fair trade movement
o adjourn

Monday, April 30

Morning:

9:00-12:00 Debrief and evaluation for farmworker organization leadership

• Future work and strategy – how to follow up?
• Continuation of Resolutions / Decision making
• Where do we go from here? How are we going to get there?
• How are we going to be working together?
• Formation of committees to continue the work that is left after the conference.
• Network of workers/organizations that will be working towards the
improvement and protection of the labor rights.
• Evaluations
• Adjourn