Governor Crist meets with CIW
March 27th-- FL Governor Charlie Crist Sends Letter to CIW
In a pledge of support for the CIW´s Campaign for Fair Food, Governor Charlie Crist sent a follow-up letter to CIW delegation members which you can see by clicking here.
Download the letter here.
March 26th-- A delegation from the CIW met with Florida Governor Charlie Crist yesterday to discuss slavery and abuses in Florida's fields.
The meeting, which lasted over an hour and included both Gov. Crist and Lt. Gov. Kottkamp, included discussion of federal slavery prosecutions in Florida's fields, the degraded conditions that give rise to slavery, and ways in which Gov. Crist can support the Campaign for Fair Food in ensuring an end to slavery and abuses. Here's an excerpt from the Naples Daily News article on the meeting:
“I was deeply moved by what they had to say and we want to help them as much as we possibly can,” Crist said after the prolonged meeting that left subsequent appointments backed up in the governor’s waiting room.
Crist said he would issue a statement later Wednesday or today publicly addressing the issues brought forward by the group, which has called on growers to improve wages and working conditions for workers and crack down on practices that have led to seven federal convictions for modern day slavery in the past 10 years...
“I’m not a man driven by anger, much, but two things will: injustice and arrogance,” Crist told reporters after the meeting.
“I detect from the briefings I’ve had and the meeting I just had that there may be a bit of both at work here and that concerns me greatly. We want to be a continuing partner to try to help with their plight.”
In the words of Gerardo Reyes of the CIW, "It was a very intimate dialogue, but there is a lot of work to do." After all, as the Naples Daily News article concludes, "The true test, however, w[ill] come if Crist uses his influence to help conditions improve."
For more details, here are the full articles on the meeting:
"Crist first Florida governor to meet with farmworkers group," Naples Daily News
"Coalition of Immokalee Workers call meeting with Crist 'productive,' Ft. Myers News-Press
"Crist, farmworkers talk about labor conditions," The Associated Press
Thank you to everyone who signed on to and collected signatures on the letter to Gov. Crist for your work to help make this hopeful step forward possible!
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March 11th-- After receiving almost 40,000 letters from people of faith, farmworkers, and others from across Florida and the country, Florida Governor Charlie Crist has reversed his position and agreed to meet with the CIW! This will be the first meeting of a Florida Governor with a farmworker organization and will take place on March 25th in Tallahassee.
March 9th--The CIW farmworkers, Interfaith Action, and other allies traveled to Tallahassee for a press conference and theater at the Old Capitol to call on Gov. Crist to help end slavery in Florida's fields. Letters signed by Florida religious leaders and people of faith were also delivered. Florida state senator Arthenia Joyner (pictured left, top) joined local and national religious leaders in calling on Gov. Crist to do the right thing following a powerful theater (pictured left, middle) depicting the details of the most recent slavery operation in Florida's fields.
Here is some of the press coverage from Monday's event:
"We cannot continue to ignore farmworkers." Op/ed by Daphne Holden in The Tallahasee Democrat, March 11, 2009.
"Governor, meet with coalition." Ft. Myers News-Press editorial, March 9, 2009.
"Charlie Crist Snubs Slavery Foes." CBS News, March 9, 2009.
"200 Immokalee farmworkers protest at Capitol, ask governor to support end to slavery." Naples Daily News, March 10, 2009.
Photo Gallery from the Tallahasee Democrat.
"Immokalee farm workers ask Crist for help." Ft. Myers News-Press, March 10, 2009.
