Baldemar Velasquez, the president of the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, a union that represents tobacco farm workers in North Carolina and the American South, said “We’re back again for our eighth year,” Velasquez said. “We’ll keep coming back until Reynolds American decides to really do something about the conditions farm workers endure in North Carolina tobacco fields.”

The delegation going inside the meeting is expected to focus on the three areas FLOC has been broaching with the tobacco industry: reliance on human trafficking for their labor supply on contract farms; squalid conditions found in the labor camps; and the state of fear of retaliation for workers who complain about these abuses.

Velasquez believes that only when migrant farm workers have a recognized worker organization can their complaints about their working and living conditions be effectively addressed. He wants Reynolds American put into practice the company’s commitments to human rights and sign an agreement guaranteeing freedom of association on their contract farms. After nearly three years of discussions Reynolds American has yet to sign an agreement with FLOC.

Velasquez said, “It took us five years just to get a meeting and we’ve been waiting for nearly three years for a signed agreement. How many more years will it take before Reynolds American signs an agreement with FLOC guaranteeing freedom of association on their contract farms?”

#WinstonSalemNC #Labor #PeoplesStruggles #AFLCIO #immigrantRights #NorthCarolina

Winston-Salem, NC – On July 27, more than a dozen people, including political officials and members of several organizations, gathered here to call for unity in the low-income communities of East Winston-Salem and to join forces against racist injustice. The event was organized by Delinzia Upson, who’s a foreclosure prevention coordinator and writer for BE Winston Salem, and Marva Reid, president of the East/Northeast Winston Neighborhood Association.

Even as the rain poured down, people came and spoke of the continuing line of injustice occurring in Winston-Salem. “There’s a lot of stuff happening to our community today,” says Derwin L. Montgomery, city council member and representative of East Winston-Salem , “so we’re here to ensure we’re out and engaged in the process. I just want people to know that this here makes a difference, no matter how small it seems. It does make a difference, as we see here – we’re all in this together.”

Evelyn Terry, who is a candidate for the North Carolina House of Representatives district 71, spoke a fiery speech against HB 589, a voter suppression bill, saying “There are some people who want to turn back the hands of time. Are we going to let them do that? Hell no! I find it unbelievable in the things happening in our state, in particular that dreadful, draconian bill that will take us far beyond reconstruction – the voter suppression bill.”

Terry continued, “It was because of all of the people who marched and died, who were beaten and maimed, that allowed us to exercise our right to vote. I believe, from this day forward, we need to go to the streets, to the churches, to the synagogues, to the mosques and show the people how critical it is for them to exercise their right to vote, no matter what barrier there is in front of them by this mean-spirited, un-Christian-like, unjust General Assembly.”

Chants erupted from the crowd, “Forward together now, not one step back!” and “Fired up! Ready to go!” Poets spoke, food and beverages were provided and local DJ Annette D. Hayes played music throughout the event.

Several other people spoke of injustice in the state of North Carolina and our current fight against HB 589, including Earline Parmon, a General Assembly member and candidate for the North Carolina Senate, Jemmise Brown, who is running for membership of the Northeast Ward City Council, and Larry Little, former Black Panther and city councilmember.

“We can make a difference,” said Little. “Your involvement can make a difference. Today we are at a critical junction in this state. Are we going to go forward, or are we going to go backwards?”

“I would’ve never thought,” Little continued, “that we’d be fighting over women’s reproductive rights. I never thought we’d get to the day where we see the inability of students to use their school IDs to vote. So quite frankly, if we are serious, we owe it to our children and grandchildren to show them that not only did we fought a good fight, but that the fight continues and we will march forward unto victory!”

#WinstonSalemNC #AntiRacism #voterSuppression #InjusticeSystem #HB589

Winston-Salem, NC – On July 25, people gathered here at the First Calvary Baptist Church to discuss the formation of a Young People Coalition for Justice. The meeting was organized to first bring people of the community together and talk on the issues currently going on and how they, as a community, should begin addressing them.

The main topic covered was the North Carolina voter suppression bill, HB 589. This bill, which is being pushed by the right wing, would bar people from voting who don’t have a approved photo ID; would eliminate same-day voter registration; eliminate an entire week in early voting; only permit citizens to vote in their specific precinct, etc. This bill is being labeled as the worst voter suppression bill in the nation.

Nicole Little, local organizer and Wake Forest University grad, stated, “Officially, according to this new bill, parents will be prosecuted if they were to allow their child to vote outside of their district. They can face criminal charges just for allowing their child to vote in another district. It’s insane.” She added, “This will affect the poor, low-income communities as well, especially those who are handicapped or with disabilities who can’t get up in the morning and go out to vote as early as the bill demands.”

Talks of the next Justice for Trayvon Martin rally were held. Local organizers dubbed it as the NEXT Rally.

Delinzia Upson, a foreclosure prevention coordinator and writer for BE Winston Salem news blog, talked about the upcoming rally, “This event right here is about connecting people with individual sets and come up with a general solution. We’ve got in contact with the NAACP and Occupy Winston-Salem. We’ve been in touch with the political people running for office this year, including organizations who’ve worked with women, children and men to come along as well.”

Upson continued, “The idea is that, in having these political groups present, they can all tell the people what they’re fighting for, so that those people can connect with them and begin joining in with that fight.”

The NEXT Rally will be Saturday, July 27, at 11 a.m. on 1415 East 14th Street in Winston-Salem. The next meeting for the Young People Coalition for Justice will be held July 30, at 6 p.m. at First Calvary Baptist Church on 401 Woodland Avenue.

#WinstonSalemNC #voterSuppression #TrayvonMartin #InjusticeSystem #YoungPeopleCoalitionForJustice

Winston-Salem, NC – On July 16, nearly 1000 people came together on Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. to rally in solidarity of Trayvon Martin and to express their outrage at racist vigilante George Zimmerman’s not guilty verdict. The event was organized by Nicole Little, of the Daryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice.

Starting at the parking lot of Mechanics and Farmers Bank, several organizers jumped onto the back of a truck and spoke on the injustice that was committed in the Zimmerman case. Larry Little, former Black Panther and city councilmember, pointed out the similarities between Trayvon Martin and Emmett Till, saying, “The all white jury in Mississippi found these murderers not guilty of killing Emmett Till. And now an all white jury in Sanford, Florida, has found George Zimmerman not guilty for murdering Trayvon Martin.” He added, “We have to take on the injustice done to Trayvon Martin. Young people, this is your modern-day Emmett Till struggle.”

Freedom songs were sung by the crowd, like Ella’s Song by Bernice Reagon, singing “We who believe in freedom cannot rest,” which was composed in honor of Ella Baker, an African American civil rights activist in the 1930s. In between each speaker the crowd started chanting, “What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!”

“It’s great to defend and to have a good defense,” says William Cox, activist and organizer of Occupy Winston-Salem. “But we need to be on the offense, or they’ll be on the offense. And that’s what’s going on right now. We can fight this and we can win this. I know I’m speaking to the choir, but we need a motivated and fired up crowd ready to fight back!”

Cox continues, “It’s about symbols, isn’t it? It’s about a travesty which is the reality. And the symbol of a Black male, it can be taken out of commission at the drop of a hat. And what is it? It’s the symbol of the war they have right now. It’s an economic, a social, a cultural and a racist war. And we’re going to win this war!”

By 8:30 p.m. the crowd gathered together in prayer for Trayvon Martin and his family and then began marching up the road, chanting “No Justice? No Peace!” The sound of passersby honking their horns nonstop in solidarity shook the streets of Winston-Salem. Fists were raised and signs were hanging out of car windows, showing that not only were 1000 protesting the Zimmerman verdict, but the entire Black and Brown communities of Winston-Salem were with them as well.

When asked on how well the event went and what is to come later, Nicole Little stated, “I’m ecstatic about it. I’m not going to say that I was expecting this many people to come, but I’m absolutely happy that they did. It shows that I’m not alone. Everyone here, and the community of Winston-Salem, wish to express their voice. And so this event allowed them to do just that.”

“Next week,” Little continued, “I plan on working here to help develop a Youth Coalition so that the youth who want to know more about public policy or about all the injustice currently taking place or being fought back, bills that are attacking citizens of Winston-Salem or in the state of North Carolina, can get together, begin organizing, and become the activists they want to be.”

#WinstonSalemNC #OppressedNationalities #AntiRacism #TrayvonMartin #GeorgeZimmerman #InjusticeSystem

Winston-Salem, NC – On June 6, over a dozen activists of Occupy Winston-Salem and the community gathered outside Forsyth Medical Center to protest against the mass layoff of 289 workers by Novant Health, Inc. Headquartered in Winston-Salem, Novant Health employs over 25,000 workers, operating 13 different hospitals, from North Carolina all the way to Georgia.

Picketing between Silas Creek Parkway and Hawthorne Road, the solidarity was very high as hundreds of passersby honked in support, with either a wave or fist outside their windows, while thousands more were at least able to get a glimpse of Occupy’s resistance against job cuts. Some of those who honked in solidarity were employees of Forsyth Medical Center, including an ambulance truck.

Debra Demske, member of Occupy Winston-Salem, said, “One woman who drove by on Wednesday shouted out her car window that she was laid off after 27 years. If the company is acting with integrity, why does it need to have every employee escorted by security to the door?”

Tony Ndege of Occupy Winston-Salem states, “Novant brought in extra private security staff from Charlotte to show their newly laid-off employees the door like criminals. Novant Health, just like any other big business, is primarily concerned about the next quarter and presenting growth figures for its board. The bottom dollar is the bottom line for Novant, not loyalty to its workers or its customers.”

The reason for these job cuts, according to Novant, is the national mandate by ‘Obamacare’ to lower health care costs. However, in the month of April of 2011 alone, Novant accumulated a net income of $1 million. In 2010 they made $158 million, and another $197 million the year before that. By the end of 2011 their revenue had risen to $3.43 billion, leaving everyone to question where all this money is going and why almost 300 workers have to suffer as a result by having their jobs slashed.

Of the 289 workers to be laid off by Novant, 82 are of managing positions, while the remaining 207 are staff. In response, Novant claims that 10-15% of those laid off will be relocated, but in lower positions with less pay, such as clinical and patient care.

“The management of Novant,” said Debra Demske, “does not have the best interests of Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, or North Carolina in mind when making management decisions if this is the kind of decisions they make. The actions of Novant management clearly indicate that the compensation of the Novant management team is the number one consideration of cost-saving decisions for the company.”

Demske continues, “And what about the effect on the local community that they are supposed to be supporting with their tax-free status? What about adjacent losses? How many Novant jobs equal one cashier job at a local market? Those 289 jobs were not the only job losses, but there is no entity that will study the impact of these job losses because the companies that control the research also control the jobs.”

#WinstonSalemNC #Healthcare #jobCuts #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyWinstonSalem #NovantHealth

Winston-Salem, NC – On a hot morning, May 3, over 200 people gathered in front of the R.J. Reynolds (R.J.R) Headquarters in opposition to the very severe working conditions forced on North Carolina tobacco farmworkers. In response, the police surrounded the front of the headquarters, along with every street corner near it.

R.J.R. has a long history of abusing North Carolina tobacco farmworkers through terrible working conditions, such as sub-minimum wages, pesticide and nicotine poisoning, uninhabitable housing and a lack of water and breaks, all of which result in numerous fatalities.

R.J.R. is also a corporate sponsor of the ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council), which is known for its right-wing anti-immigration policies, such as Arizona’s S.B. 1070, along with advocating imprisoning undocumented workers, which private prison corporations profit off of. All of this is documented in a recent report by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), A state of fear: Human rights abuses in North Carolina’s tobacco industry.

At 9:00 a.m. a group of various organizations, including the FLOC, Migrant and Seasonal Farmworkers (MSFW), the Youth and Young Adult (YAYA) Network of the National Farm Worker Ministry, Occupy Winston-Salem, along with religious leaders, gathered inside the R.J. Reynolds Headquarters to attend their shareholders meeting. Inside, as the CEOs discussed all the massive profits they’ve accumulated in the course of a year, FLOC continuously disrupted their meeting by standing up, calling for a “Point of information,” and asked serious questions which R.J.R. refused to tackle, in order to pressure them into actually meeting with FLOC to discuss and come to an actual agreement with tobacco farmworkers.

When asked on how well the action at the shareholders meeting went, Justin Flores, who is an organizer and Director of Programs for the FLOC, stated “Reynolds finally agreed to meet directly with FLOC, so we saw yet another step in the right direction. This is a direct result from all the campaigning that our supporters have helped us with around the country to shed light on the labor rights abuses happening in North Carolina. However, as the president [Baldemar Velasquez] has said, we don't talk just to talk, so this campaign will continue until Reynolds comes to an agreement with FLOC on how to end labor rights abuses in their supply chain.”

Dida El-Sourady, a farmworker health outreach coordinator for the MSFW, commented similarly, stating “The shareholders meeting went really well. We got to ask a lot of good questions, which made them really uncomfortable. We had a very good presence there, with a lot of organizers talking about justice for farmworkers.”

As soon as the meeting was over, the various groups that attended made their way outside the R.J.R. headquarters and joined with the rest of over 200 people, ranging from farmworkers, Occupy, the religious community and even dedicated activists from both Ohio and Florida, and held a picket demonstration to continue the pressure on Reynolds. Chants like, “Reynolds Tobacco, you get rich. We get sick!” and “Qué queremos? Justicia! Cuándo lo queremos? Ahora! (What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now!),” could be heard all along the street surrounding the front of R.J.R. headquarters.

By 11:00 a.m. everyone left the picket and marched to the Civic Plaza, where several different speakers of the FLOC spoke to the crowd, denouncing Reynolds’ abuse to tobacco farmworkers and undocumented immigrants. One speaker, James Andrews, who is President of the North Carolina AFL-CIO, commented, “I have a simple message to all of you today: don’t give up, don’t blink, don’t bat an eye, look at them eye-to-eye, not as trembling slaves, but as equals.” Another speaker, Baldemar Velasquez who is the founder and president of the FLOC, spoke passionately, “There has to be a way in which people can make all the money they want to make, but they cannot do it at the expense of people dying in the fields!”

As soon as all the speakers finished, everyone gathered again onto the streets and marched throughout Winston-Salem, chanting, “When I say people, you say power. People – Power! People – Power! When I say worker, you say power. Worker – Power! Worker – Power! When I say immigrant, you say power. Immigrant – Power! Immigrant – Power!” The march ended at Lloyd Presbyterian Church, where food and refreshments awaited and people got to rest and converse among comrades.

There was a microphone for anyone who wished to say a few words regarding the demonstration or any other topic that was dear to their hearts. A member of Occupy Winston-Salem spoke on the FBI raids of the 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists’ homes in September of 2010, along with the May 2011 raid of Chicano leader Carlos Montes’ home, mentioning the upcoming trial on May 15 in Los Angeles, California.

When asked his thoughts of the Reynolds-Farmworker situation as a whole and the demonstration held in response, Tony Ndege of Occupy Winston-Salem said “The heavily indoctrinated belief that labor is somehow bestowed upon us by our corporate overlords – that we should not only be grateful for having employment, but to fear and venerate those who exploit us at all costs – is what drives the enslavement of the overwhelming majority of humanity. The richest 1% of America now owns three times the wealth of the poorest 80% and that is an undeniably unsustainable fact. In a country with such unbelievable wealth, the fact that any human being is forced to work and live under such abusive and deplorable conditions, to save pennies on the dollar, is an abomination.”

Ndege continued, “In addition to benefiting from abusive farm labor, Reynolds American has begun another wave of firing full-time employees and hiring temps for a fraction of the labor costs. This shows that Reynolds American has no true allegiance to any of its workers. The brown-white labor divide created a false sense of security which has been smashed by the economic downturn. This is why it was so great to see so many groups – labor, church, occupy and El Cambio – present today. When it comes down to it, whether we are documented or not, we are all treated as cogs in the giant corporate wheel. And the only way we can stop this wheel from crushing us is to collectively throw a wrench in it.”

#WinstonSalemNC #FarmLaborOrganizingCommitteeFLOC #RJReynolds #slaveLabor #OccupyWinstonSalem

Winston-Salem, NC – On April 16, local residents and members of Occupy Winston-Salem held a demonstration at the U.S. Post Office in the Waughtown area. Protesters demanded that the only post office in the community not be closed down.

Across the country, hundreds of U.S. post offices are on a closure list, based upon the amount of revenue they generate. For the Waughtown area, which is known to be one of the most diverse, predominantly working class communities in Winston-Salem, the closure of the one and only post office would be a major setback.

Local passersby honked to express solidarity as they drove past, while others stopped and greeted protesters as they were coming and going from the post office during the day. Shouting could be heard from Pleasant Street to Waughtown Street: “U-S-P-S should not pay for Wall Street’s mess!” – a financial mess that postal workers are organizing against nationwide.

Amanda Porter-Cox of Occupy Winston-Salem spoke out against the closing, “If that post office is closed, it will impact the daily life of all those residents living in that area. Since it is located in a poorer part of town, it is particularly vulnerable. The other implication that will come up is that the 1% is taking over public services, making them private and taking rights away. We cannot allow this to happen.”

Justin Flores, organizer and Director of Programs for the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC), also joined the demonstration, angry about what the 1% are trying to force upon the residents of Waughtown. “While farm workers often lack basic human rights,” he said, “our union understands that only by sticking together will we be able to win against those who seek to put profits over people, so I was excited to be there with the good folks in Winston Salem in support of the postal workers and their union.”

Flores continues, “I think this type of work is not only crucial to build the power to push back the Republican efforts to end public mail service, but also to educate and organize our communities about the serious problems that come along with privatization and slashes to federal, state, and local budgets. Whether it is education, mail service or public safety, conservatives are looking for ways to turn everything into a for-profit business, which often fails to account for the importance of these services for many communities. Without good public mail service, the for-profit industry will have no reason to keep good, low cost service in many neighborhoods. Only by engaging our neighbors and families will we build enough political power to not only fight back against the threats to public services, but keep fighting to improve them.”

#WinstonSalemNC #TaxTheRich #postOffice #postalWorkers #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyWinstonSalem

Winston-Salem, NC – Over 100 Occupy Winston-Salem activists protested Oct. 22 in front of the local Wells Fargo branch to expose the bank’s racist policies against African-American and Latino communities.

Wells Fargo Bank’s discrimination in lending was the issue of the day. Protesters highlighted the fact that over 37% of all Wells Fargo loans to African Americans are high-cost loans, compared to only 12% to white borrowers. The inequality is due to the banks’ racist predatory lending practices during the boom years. With the bust in the housing market and steady and rising unemployment, many people are losing their savings and then their houses are foreclosed on. Overall, African-Americans are being punished worse by the economic crisis than others. Latinos are suffering too, especially the undocumented immigrants from Mexico and Central America.

Activists exposed another ugly side of Wells Fargo profit making and their repressive role in American society. According to Andrew Hobbs, one of the leading coordinators for Occupy Winston-Salem, “Wells Fargo mutual funds provide millions of dollars in funding to the Corrections Corporation of America and the GEO Group, which are two of the largest corporations running for-profit immigrant detention centers.” The abuses of immigrants at U.S. detention centers are well documented – including physical and abuse of children, illegal strip searches, rapes of women and people dying due to lack of basic medical attention.

Students from Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) called for putting education before profit and shined a light on Wells Fargo’s hand in the ongoing financial crisis. Janae Williams, who led the students from WSSU stated, “Behind the protests, we’re trying to reach to the 99% who are being disenfranchised by this 1% that owns a majority of the wealth. I feel that, as young Black college students for the most part, we are most affected and we are also disproportionately uninformed about the surrounding issues. So next week we plan on coordinating a meeting on Friday and include all the colleges of Forsyth County to try and reach representation and support for the Occupy Movement.”

The collective spirit was high as all the activists chanted, “We are the 99%,” and “Banks got bailed out, we got sold out!” One activist, armed with an acoustic guitar, gathered everyone to sing historic protest anthems, such as John Lennon’s Imagine, Woody Guthrie’s This Land is Your Land, and the famous African American Civil Rights song We Shall Overcome.

After the demonstration, the group held a General Assembly to go over what is next for Occupy Winston-Salem. A consensus was reached for a solidarity march with Occupy Charlotte and other groups on Nov. 5.

#WinstonSalemNC #WellsFargo #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyWinstonSalem #WinstonSalemStateUniversity

The protest received enormous support from those passing by, with drivers honking their horns and holding clenched fists out their windows and sunroofs. Local firefighters waved fists and honked in solidarity as they drove past.

A.J. Bridgeman, who traveled almost an hour to stand in support of Occupy Winston-Salem stated, “This event is amazing. For the first time in my life I’ve finally felt that North Carolina is fighting back against all these injustices that have been taking place these last years. There’s great potential here and I can’t wait for the next demonstration.”

Despite the hot sun beaming down, for the entire three hours, all 200 activists chanted as one, “The people united, we’ll never be defeated,” “We are the 99%,” and “Tell me what democracy looks like. This is what democracy looks like!” Organizers of Occupy Winston-Salem handed out free water and donated food to help keep people going.

After the demonstration ended, several activists met at Miller Park to evaluate the demonstration and plan for a general assembly. The next Occupy Winston-Salem demonstration will be held in Miller Park.

#WinstonSalemNC #CapitalismAndEconomy #BankOfAmerica #OccupyWallStreet #OccupyWinstonSalem

Winston-Salem, NC – The opening round of what promises to be a hard-fought battle against big tobacco took place here, Oct. 28, as over 300 farm workers, trade unionists, religious leaders and students marched through the streets of downtown Winston-Salem chanting “Si se puede!” and “R.J. Reynolds escucha, el pueblo esta en lucha!” The march was called by the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) to demand that R.J. Reynolds negotiate with the union over the oppressive conditions suffered by North Carolina tobacco workers.

Ernesto Gobinez, a tobacco worker who works in the fields of Nashville, North Carolina, and attended the protest, said, “We want better conditions for farm workers. There is a lot of exploitation in the fields. We want to be treated as equals, with dignity and respect.”

North Carolina tobacco workers face extremely harsh working conditions. As a statement from FLOC explains, “Sub-minimum wages, corrupt crew leaders, extreme poverty, bootleg labor camps, major health risks and heat stroke deaths are still the reality for tobacco farm workers in North Carolina.” In the past few years alone, nine farm workers have died from heat exhaustion while working in the fields of North Carolina, while tens of thousands suffer work-related illnesses every year from the heat and from ‘green tobacco sickness,’ caused by chemicals in the tobacco leaves. A great majority of North Carolina tobacco workers also suffer from racist national oppression. Many are migrant farm workers from Mexico, and those without documentation find it impossible to speak out against hazardous, and sometimes deadly, conditions on the job.

Over the past month, CEO Susan Ivey of Reynolds American Inc, the parent company of R.J. Reynolds, has refused to meet with the union or with religious leaders to discuss the issue, citing the fact that R.J. Reynolds is not the direct employer of these workers. But FLOC argues that because of the control that R.J. Reynolds has over their procurement systems, the company has the power to bring about changes involving all parties in the supply chain. R.J. Reynolds is owned by Reynolds American Inc, the second largest tobacco company in the United States and the manufacturer of one out of every three cigarettes sold in the U.S.

The demonstration was notable for the broad participation of trade unions and Central Labor Councils from across North Carolina and the east coast. The Teamsters, American Postal Workers Union, United Auto Workers, United Mine Workers Association, AFSCME, Seafarers Union, Association of Machinists and several other unions were well represented at the protest. James Andrews, president of the North Carolina AFL-CIO also attended and spoke at the demonstration, urging those present to organize and help, “bring dignity and respect to thousands of North Carolina farm workers harvesting tobacco used by R.J. Reynolds.” A statement of support and solidarity from AFL-CIO president John Sweeney was also read.

Frank Smith, a member of the Seafarers Union in Maryland, traveled to Winston-Salem with ten other members of his union. He said, “We’re here to share our support and brotherhood with FLOC. Everyone deserves equal rights and opportunities. We’re here to extend our solidarity to these workers, from one human being to another.”

The march snaked through the streets of downtown Winston-Salem, past dozens of buildings owned or operated by R.J. Reynolds. The protesters paused at the R.J. Reynolds building to honor the memory of fallen workers in the fields. Dozens of flowers and wreathes were laid by farm workers to honor their memories. These were then set at the foot of the R.J. Reynolds building as a message to CEO Susan Ivey.

Baldemar Velásquez, president of FLOC, spoke at the closing rally, saying, “This new campaign is long overdue. Despite several studies and investigative reports little has changed over the last several decades for tobacco farm workers. The fact that they still live at subsistence survival is not only a tragedy but a moral disgrace hidden from the eyes of most Americans. FLOC will campaign until R.J. Reynolds commits to joining us in addressing this national shame.”

#WinstonSalemNC #News #ChicanoLatino #SouthernLaborMovement #FarmLaborOrganizingCommitteeFLOC #RJReynolds