Our Position on Farm Labor Issues
Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) and its operating companies take seriously the concerns regarding farm labor issues that also are important to many of our stakeholders. For the past several years, we believe that no company has done more than R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company to promote farm-worker safety and improved working conditions on tobacco farms in North Carolina and beyond.
As detailed below, R.J. Reynolds’ programs to help foster improved worker safety and housing conditions are the product of effective partnerships with the company’s contract growers, regulatory authorities, land-grant universities and state agricultural experts.
Indeed, the concerns regarding agricultural labor issues are multilateral in nature, and are not unique to RAI or its operating companies. In fact, these concerns are not specific or limited to the tobacco industry, since many of the workers who harvest tobacco often harvest other crops on a seasonal basis.
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) and Oxfam America recently released a report on migrant tobacco labor issues that recognizes the multilateral nature of these issues. The report recommends the creation of a council that brings together a broad range of stakeholders to address the working conditions of agricultural laborers. Such a council, if properly constituted, might well make a significant contribution to the improvement of worker safety and living conditions on the farms.
We are prepared to participate actively in such an endeavor which brings together ALL of the affected stakeholders. We believe that making additional progress on improving the work environment for U.S. farm workers can best be achieved by taking this broader view of the situation.
R.J. Reynolds’ Efforts to Promote Improved Farm Labor Working and Living Conditions
Some of the tangible things R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company has been, and is currently, doing to help foster improved working and living conditions on the farms with which it contracts include:
- Beginning with the 2011 growing season, all U.S. tobacco growers with whom R.J. Reynolds contracts to purchase tobacco are required to participate in a comprehensive training program conducted by the Cooperative Extension Service of major public universities in tobacco-growing states. Each grower must be certified as having received this training in 2011 before any tobacco is purchased from them by R.J. Reynolds. The program includes training in the following areas:
- State and federal employment regulations concerning hiring practices, wages and hours, workers’ compensation insurance and child labor provisions;
- Key seasonal/migrant labor regulations concerning migrant housing, use of farm labor contractors and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act, and
- Agricultural safety regulations and practices covering the safe use of pesticides and herbicides, farm machinery and equipment, and the prevention of heat stroke and green tobacco sickness (GTS).
- Funding the production of DVDs on hazardous materials and adequate housing requirements in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Labor (NCDOL) and N.C. State University;
- Distributing pesticide safety and farming operation safety DVDs, produced in English and Spanish, to all of our contract growers;
- Distributing information, in both English and Spanish, on heat stress and green tobacco sickness to all of our contract growers;
- Providing support for the NCDOL Gold Star Program, which recognizes growers who provide farm worker housing that meets all of the requirements of the Migrant Housing Act of N.C.
Additionally, in 2010 R.J. Reynolds sponsored a pilot program for on-site farm safety training, in both English and Spanish, for tobacco growers and their workers. Working with the NCDOL, the company is expanding these on-site training sessions in 2011 to reach additional contract growers and their workers in North Carolina.
We also know that independent monitoring of farm practices is an important issue. In 2011, R.J. Reynolds plans to work with an independent third party to develop a program to monitor work conditions on farms with which it contracts.
FLOC’s Collective Bargaining Agreement
FLOC has a collective bargaining agreement with the North Carolina Growers Association (NCGA) through 2011. Indeed, the NCGA/FLOC collective bargaining agreement already covers many of the tobacco workers employed on farms that sell tobacco to R.J. Reynolds.
It is important to note that R.J. Reynolds does not employ these workers. However, any tobacco worker who wants to join FLOC may do so – right this very minute. Absolutely nothing is stopping them from doing so. And it’s just fine with us if they choose to do that. NCGA reports there are currently approximately 1,400 workers on farms in North Carolina who are members of FLOC.
Labor Laws
It’s also important to understand that North Carolina has effective laws on the books to protect workers, including specific regulations for working and living conditions for farm laborers. The NCDOL takes pride in its enforcement of those laws. We support those laws and require farms with whom we contract to abide by those laws.
We have repeatedly encouraged anyone who knows or suspects that the law is being broken to alert the NCDOL. The agency has an easy-to-access, anonymous method of reporting suspected violations. If FLOC or any other party is aware of potential violations, R.J. Reynolds encourages them to report the circumstances to the state so that they may be investigated. Click here for a link to the anonymous NCDOL reporting form.
In conclusion, we remain committed to doing our part in addressing this issue. It’s the right thing to do. We have significantly increased our efforts over the past five years; we are committed to looking for reasonable, practical ways to further strengthen those efforts; and we are prepared to actively participate in a multilateral approach that brings together ALL of the affected stakeholders.
The RAI companies engage in ongoing dialogue with a variety of stakeholders on a broad range of issues, and we appreciate your interest in this topic and thank you for taking the time to read our perspective on it. For more information about the companies’ corporate social responsibility initiatives, please click here.
Links to non-R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company or Reynolds American Inc. websites are provided as a convenience, but R.J. Reynolds and Reynolds American Inc. are not responsible for the content on the linked websites. The statements and views available on those websites do not necessarily represent the views of R.J. Reynolds or its management.