[derketchup]

and it's not pretty...

The Cleveland Free Times :: News :: Chatter :: Putting The Can't In Canton

Perhaps it makes you feel like the responsible upper-cruster to peruse the oft-glutted aisles of your friendly neighborhood Trader Joe's, buying organic guacamole in Earth-friendly containers for just a few cents more than discount prices. But you should know about all the sweat pouring to facilitate your check-out peace of mind.
Case in point: A California family sued Merced Farm Labor Contractors last week after Maria Isabel Vasquez-Jimenez, a two-months-pregnant 17-year-old from Mexico, died of heat stroke in May after working nine hours in a vineyard without proper hydration or shade breaks. It took two hours for management to get her to the hospital, according to the Sacramento Bee. She was the 10th migrant to die from the heat in four years.
Merced provides migrants for Fred Franzia's Bronco Wineries operation, which is the sole provider of Trader Joe's $1.99 "Two-Buck Chuck" wine, officially named Charles Shaw. Bronco is also part-owner of the vineyard where Vasquez-Jimenez met her end. Trader Joe's has exclusive rights to distribute the surprisingly un-Thunderbird-like hooch.
The United Farm Workers of America - the lasting legacy of another famous grape-picker, Cesar Chavez - argues that Trader Joe's has the power to leverage change, what with an estimated $720 million being made on the 360 million bottles of the stuff sold in just six years of production. UFW is asking the company to pressure vendors to follow worker safety legislation already on the books.
"We all know that even a just law is only a piece of paper unless it can be enforced," said UFW president Arturo Rodriguez in a recent speech. "There has never been adequate enforcement of laws protecting farm workers, under either Democratic or Republican administrations."
As of press time, Trader Joe's only response had been to point out that it doesn't own the vineyard or the contracting company allegedly responsible for Vasquez-Jimenez's death, and that more than just Two-Buck Chuck is made from the grapes harvested there. And while that may be true, it hardly responds to the UFW's challenge, earning it the Wal-Mart Medal for Evasive Publicity. - Dan Harkins