UH Students for Fair Trade

Looking towards the future, UH Students for Fair Trade, along with former members of UH Students Against Sweatshops, has become the Fair Labor Action Committee (F.L.A.C.).

We still hold our dedication to workers’ rights and the Fair Trade cause, but we want a more open ended title to be more inclusive of other labor struggles.

Check out our website: fairlaboruh.wordpress.com

Contact us: fairlaboruh (at) gmail (dot) com

And we’re on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=308613923288&ref=ts

This past Friday (Dec. 4), we had our second ever Workers Appreciation Day. This is part of our Campus Community Solidarity Campaign to build better relationships between workers and students on campus in order to work towards common goals. We aim to show respect and gratitude to the workers on our campus whose work too often goes unappreciated, disrespected, and most certainly underpaid. Our goal is to build relationships that are strong enough to work past these issues and bring concrete improvement to the lives of the people responsible for keeping UH running.

Once again, we got a bunch of free food from Aramark, and gave it back to the workers they, and other parts of the UH system, exploit. Aramark food-service workers came out, as well as people from the Custodial, Landscaping, Plant operations, Housekeeping and other departments.  It was a bigger success than the last one, due to our fliering and other outreach leading up to it, and we had more workers than we could handle for a while. Workers seemed happy to get out of the cold and have some breakfast, and many signed up to be informed  of the next one.

Look forward to more in the future.

Our member had an editorial published about the tomato industry and the power students have to make a change.

We hope Aramark can take a look, and stop dragging their feet on making a deal with the CIW to support farmworkers.

check it out at: http://www.thedailycougar.com/guest-commentary-next-time-think-before-you-eat-1.2111435

To kick off our campaign to get Fair Food in grocery stores, University of Houston Students for Fair Trade (SFT) and friends gathered last Sunday November 22nd in front of the Kroger on Montrose and Hawthorne.

We went to raise awareness about the human rights crisis facing Florida’s tomato farm workers today with Kroger customers and management. We also requested that Kroger, the second largest grocery retailer in the country, to make an agreement with the Coalition of Immokallee Workers (CIW) to pay one penny per pound more to workers and take action against abuses in their supply chain.

We spread almost 200 handbills inside Kroger then a group of us held signs and props up for drivers on Montrose (a very busy street) and incoming costumers. We received honks answering our “honk for fair food” or “honk if you like ethical tomatoes” signs.

SFT spoke about this human rights crisis going on in Florida for too long now and how we, as tomato consumers, have a responsibility and the power to support farm workers. When they weren’t speaking, the rest loudly chanted “Right store. Right Price. Fair food? Not quite.”

After an hour or so, the general manager of the store came out and wanting to talk to us. We were going to approach her, but she asked us to stay in the sidewalk. Two members walked up to her and gave her a letter which expressed the rally’s concern.

 She took it and said she would give it to a higher manager.

This action went well, and we hope Kroger does the right thing, but we’ll be back if they don’t. This is just the beginning!