On Friday, May 7th, 2010, hundreds of FLOC members and supporters did just that, bringing together a broad coalition of those interested in justice for tobacco farmworkers. The action centered around the company’s shareholder meeting, where 37 FLOC supporters were inside, speaking on farm labor issues directly to the company’s decision makers.
Inside the Meeting
Reynolds CEO Susan Ivey started off the meeting by describing the excellent financial shape of the company and boasting of huge profits during an economic downturn. “This became the FLOC/Reynolds shareholders meeting,” said Rev. Nelson Johnson of the Beloved Community Center, referencing the fact that at every point in the meeting, FLOC supporters used discussion time to bring up the topic of human rights in the company’s supply chain. Representatives from prominent religious, human rights, and labor organizations obtained access to the meeting by purchasing a share of the company or representing someone who owned one. Although Reynolds uses “regimented shareholder meetings” with “timed-to-the-second comment periods,” FLOC allies studied these rules and used them to deliver a critical message: the company can no longer profit from a broken and exploitative supply chain.
Reynolds executives responded with the same arguments used to avoid responsibility for their supply chain in previous years. They referenced previous public relations statements that describe the company’s record of social responsibility and sought to attack FLOC’s long record of fighting for immigrant workers’ rights. One Reynolds executive even went so far as to suggest that if FLOC really cared about migrant workers it would be standing up for immigration reform. “This shows the need for a dialogue with the company” said FLOC president Baldemar Velasquez. “If they would have bothered to speak with us or to do any real research they would see that FLOC has been at the forefront of the push for immigration reform for almost two decades. The real question is, after acknowledging that most of their tobacco is being picked by undocumented workers, why hasn’t Reynolds lifted a finger on the issue?”
After using the question and answer period to address farmworker suffering, the group of farmworker allies walked out of the meeting singing a civil-rights spiritual, led by Rev. Carlton Eversley, President of the Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem.
City-Wide Action in Downtown Winston-Salem 
Those inside the meeting exited the building to over a hundred picketers cheering them on with FLOC flags and painted tobacco leaves. After picketing the building for around an hour, this group walked through the city to a downtown park, where they met up with other supporters for a rally and march.
At the rally, local religious leaders such as Rosanna Panizo of the United Methodist Church and Rev. Dr. Miriam J. Burnett, chair of the National Council of Churches, spoke about their support for farmworkers in the struggle to hold Reynolds accountable for the abuses in their supply chain and about the need for a just immigration reform. Hugo Gonzalez, a tobacco farmworker and FLOC member spoke on the injustice he has seen in the fields and about his appreciation for the widespread support the NC community has shown.
Finally, FLOC founder and president Baldemar Velasquez got the crowd riled up with a passionate call for justice. On the hot day that was around 85 degrees and sunny, Baldemar asked everyone to come out of the shade and imagine this hot sun beating down in mid-July as farmworkers hustle down rows of tobacco bent over for 12 hours a day for a meager wage. He then put the current struggle in context by describing previous campaigns.
“In the 80s those big corporations told us the same thing that Reynolds is telling us now. . . they told us they are not responsible [and FLOC is] only doing it for [them]selves. When they are giving themselves millions of dollars in bonuses, how can they justify accusing FLOC, accusing the farmworkers of wanting more? They said they would never speak to us. That's what Campbell's said in the 80s, that’s what Heinz said in the 80s, Deans Foods said in the 90s, Mt. Olive said in 2000, that they would never speak to
those farmworkers. But the wave of justice overcame them.”
After the rally, hundreds marched through downtown Winston-Salem, past the Reynolds corporate headquarters, and came together for a final rally and reception at Lloyd Presbyterian Church.
It was a beautiful sight to see such solidarity and support for the cause of justice. Both inside and out, Reynolds executives and shareholders heard the call from a united community that is committed to continue this campaign until the company recognizes its responsibility to the workers at the bottom of its supply chain.