"Stupid Indians" ... "Indians are of no use" ..."Indians don't understand anything or how to do anything"
These are the kind of insults, from supervisors, made to indigenous workers at Giumarra Vineyards. And you can imagine the treatment that goes along with this attitude. Please read the below alert and then take action.
In January we reported that a young woman, 17 years old, was harassed sexually by a co-worker at Giumarra. She complained to the company about the unwanted sexual advances, and the company did something.
When she and fellow workers complained, they were fired.
These workers are all members of indigenous groups from Mexico. In a lawsuit filed by the former Giumarra employees who are Plaintiffs in the lawsuit, they claim they were the targets of abuse, insults, and discrimination by Giumarra supervisors just because they are indigenous.
The Kroger grocery chain is one of Giumarra's biggest customers. Giumarra may not care what you think, but Kroger's will. Kroger has the power to get Giumarra to clean up its act. Tell Kroger's that you, as a customer, will not accept this treatment of the workers who tend and pick the produce that we eat. Tell them to use their power to promote the social responsibility they say they believe in.
Indigenous farm workers are doubly vulnerable. Anti-immigrant sentiment leads to serious discrimination. And they face additional cultural and linguistic barriers because they are indigenous peoples.
Take a stand for indigenous rights. Tell Kroger to do the right thing.
* The Krogers grocery chain includes Ralphs, Food for Less, Fred Meyer, QFC, Frys, Baker's, City Market, Dillions, Foods Co, Gerbes, Hilander, JayC Stores, King Soopers, Owen's Market, Scotts Food & Pharmacy, Smiths Food & Drug, Smith's Marketplace, Turkey Hill, and more.
After you take action please share this campaign with your friends and family. You can send them an e-mail, post this campaign on your Facebook and/or Twitter page by clicking here or going to: http://action.ufw.org/page/share/indian
What else you can do to help Giumarra workers.
1. Sign the Giumarra/Nature's Partner Pledge. If you have not yet signed, please join the tens of thousands of farm worker supporters who have sign the pledge and committed to support the campaign to improve conditions for these workers.
5.Let us know if you see the Nature's Partner label in your store. We've made an easy to use internet check off at http://action.ufw.org/storechecklist where it will take you a minute to let us know if you've seen the products. At this time of year, the Nature's Partner label products you may see are avocados, melons, stone fruit (peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums, cherries) and grapes. In addition to the Nature's Partner Label, Giumarra markets their grapes under Arra and Grape King labels.
6.Donate to help the Giumarra/Nature's Partner campaign.
Farm workers at Giumarra Vineyards are organizing to win a United Farm Workers union contract. Giumarra Vineyards is the nation's largest table grape grower, employing close to 2,500 grape workers. Approximately one out of every ten bunches of grapes picked in the U.S. comes from workers for a single company--Giumarra. This company has a long history of intimidating and bullying workers and violating their rights. In fact, back in 2006, a union election was thrown out by an administrative judge because of their unlawful interference. In addition, two farm workers have died of heat-related causes while laboring in Giumarra’s fields.
You'd think that Giumarra would have learned their lesson and quit putting workers at risk.
Unfortunately, they have not. Workers have come to us asking for help because Giumarra is back to its old tricks. Workers have asked us to help them in getting a union contract so they have protection against these abuses.
Whose Partner?
Giumarra/Nature’s Partner is not only one of the world’s largest table grape producers, but has also grown to become an agro-industrial giant in global produce. With operations spanning two continents and partnerships sprouting up from Argentina to New Zealand, this “family owned” business has seen its empire grow immensely in the past 10 years. Farm workers, however, have yet to enjoy the fruits of this success.
Giumarra plays an important role in the distribution and marketing of peaches, melons, avocados, berries, asparagus and several other items from all over the world—especially off-season produce from South America. Most of these fruits and vegetables carry the Nature’s Partner label and can be found in stores both large and small.
Picking up on consumers’ growing desire to feel more connected to the origins of their food, Giumarra is jumping on board the marketing trend of selling “food with a story” with its Nature’s Partner brand fruits and vegetables.They are using the Nature’s Partner website and a whole host of promotional tools to try and get you to believe that they are not only careful stewards of the land, but also strong advocates of public health who are famously friendly to their workers. This image they are trying to portray couldn’t be farther from the truth.MORE
Nature's Partner?
What you might not realize is that Giumarra is not only a huge grape growing conglomerate, but also a mega distributer of imported produce, much of which is sold under their Nature's Partner label. The Nature's Partner label includes avocados, grapes, berries, asparagus, stone fruit, apples and pears, kiwi, citrus, tomatoes, melons, cucumber, peppers, squash, eggplant, and so-called exotics from all over the world with the bulk of their imports coming from Chile, Mexico, and Peru.
It is widely accepted that child labor and bonded labor are not uncommon in many of these areas. The US Department of Labor reports that child labor is used heavily in Peruvian agriculture, where children work 10-12 hours a day, 6 days a week without going to school and receive half the adult wage.* Conditions tend to be poor and sometimes even hazardous. In the agricultural labor camps of Sinaloa and Sonora in northern Mexico, there are many documented cases of workers contracting chronic-degenerative illness from pesticide exposure and losing limbs from lack of labor protections in the fields, where 20% of the workforce is under 14 years of age**. MORE
After you take action please share this campaign with your friends and family. You can send them an e-mail, post this campaign on your Facebook and/or Twitter page by 
What else you can do to help Giumarra workers. 
Editorial Cartoons
