Going Organic & Work Break Compensation

Tuesday Dec 2nd, 2014 43 Views Northwest Report

Going Organic & Work Break Compensation plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report.

The Washington State Supreme Court will be hearing a case regarding whether farm workers should be compensated for break times. Washington Farm Labor Associations Dan Fazio explains.

FAZIO: The argument is about extra compensation for piece-rate workers for non-productive work. In this case the mandatory rest break. Washington regulation require agricultural employers to offer a ten-minute rest break in the morning and a ten-minute rest break in the afternoon. The plaintiffs are seeking extra compensation for that rest break.

If approved the action could be retro-active for up to three years.

It appears the world's largest retailer has one more market it wants to jump into. Walmart says it has plans to ramp up their retail organic foods to create a huge customer base while driving down prices. Back in April, Walmart partnered with organic food producer Wild Oats to bring about 100 products to stores at about a 25% cost reduction. This adds to Walmart's nearly 1600 organic products. Walmart says they are hoping to remove the "premium price" associated with organic products.

Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray.

Enough is enough. The nearly year long labor dispute between the Pacific Maritime Association and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union has caused a slowdown at western ports that has left hundreds of containers full of produce just sitting to rot on the docks or turned away completely. Millions of dollars in losses are now occurring on a daily basis for ag producers. Like the ripples in a pond the work slowdowns being used by the ILWU as a negotiating tactic is causing irreparable harm to exporters and importers who's livelihoods depend on trade, and beyond that to the businesses and customers who buy those products that are currently being held up for ransom at the ports. Many fruit packing house workers are loosing their jobs and growers and suppliers are quickly losing credibility with importers in foreign markets. Ag industry leaders have requested that the federal government step in and provide a mediator to intervene in the labor negotiations, but so far the White House appears to be only "monitoring" the situation; a situation that is getting progressively worse by the minute.

Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network of the West.