US: Tomato workers win agreement with Subway

The campaign to bring better wages and improve working conditions to Florida's tomato fields took a big step last week when the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) reached agreement with Subway, the world's third largest fast-food chain and biggest fast-food buyer of Florida tomatoes.

Subway also joins other fast-food industry leaders and the CIW in calling on the Florida tomato industry to institute an industry-wide penny per pound surcharge to increase wages for all Florida tomato harvesters. That means the workers will get 72 cents to 77 cents for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick, up from 40 cents to 45 cents.