Labor Group to Protest Outside Trader Joe's Monrovia Headquarters

A coalition of farm workers plans a demonstration outside of Monrovia headquarters on Friday to protest the grocery chain's refusal to join its program guaranteeing workers fair pay and working conditions, according to organizers.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers accuses Trader Joe's of purchasing tomatoes from wholesalers in Florida where workers are paid meager wages and are treated unfairly. The group is asking that the company sign onto an agreement guaranteeing fair working conditions for farm workers, but the company has refused, CIW said in a news release.

"For decades, farmworkers who pick tomatoes for companies like Trader Joe's have endured grinding poverty and systemic human rights abuses," the release states. "Today, hope is on the horizon, but Trader Joe's refuses to do its part."

The CIW has previously reached agreements with companies like McDonalds, Subway, Burger King, Taco Bell and Whole Foods Market, according to the Orange County Register.

Trader Joe's contends that the agreement drafted by the CIW is "is overreaching, ambiguous and improper" and said that it is has developed its own solution to pay workers an additional penny per pound of tomatoes they harvest, according to a statement from the company.

"We have great concern for the rights of all who work to provide products sold in our stores," the statement reads. "We require our suppliers to meet very strict requirements related to the law and ethical standards. We have developed a solution to this matter that provides workers with an “extra penny per pound” and includes a process to verify that it all works."

The rally will begin at noon Friday at Monrovia's market on W. Huntington Drive and protesters will then march to the company's headquarters at 800 S. Shamrock Avenue.

"There, farmworkers will lead a creative action calling on Trader Joe's to support human rights for the men and women who harvest the tomatoes sold in its stores," according to a statement on CIW's website.