End oppression in the tobacco fields

In September, YAYA took action with students at Florida International University in Miami to raise concerns about an urgent need for action from one of the university’s Board of Trustees members: Betsy Atkins, who also sits on the Board of Directors that steers the tobacco corporation Reynolds American.

The company refuses to acknowledge the oppressive conditions for the workers who harvest their tobacco, even when nine tobacco farm workers have died while working in North Carolina in the past few years due to heat stroke linked to nicotine absorption.

The farm worker union Farm Labor Organizing Committee(FLOC) continues to ask for a meeting with RJ Reynolds CEO Susan Ivey to discuss solutions that will protect the safety of farm workers They have appealed to FIU Board of Trustees member and Reynolds American Board of Directors member Betsy Atkins to aid them in arranging a meeting with CEO Susan Ivey, she has ignored them.

Meanwhile FIU aims to demonstrate Respect for the Dignity of the Individual, Respect for the Environment, and Honesty, Integrity, and Truth as Institutional Values. YAYA and FIU students fliered at the FIU Board of Trustees Meeting to alert the board members to the urgency of the situation that tobacco harvesters work in. The company refuses to acknowledge the oppressive conditions for the workers who harvest their tobacco, even when nine tobacco farm workers have died while working in North Carolina in the past few years due to heat stroke linked to nicotine absorption.

The farm worker union Farm Labor Organizing Committee(FLOC) continues to ask for a meeting with RJ Reynolds CEO Susan Ivey to discuss solutions that will protect the safety of farm workers They have appealed to FIU Board of Trustees member and Reynolds American Board of Directors member Betsy Atkins to aid them in arranging a meeting with CEO Susan Ivey, but she has ignored them.

Meanwhile FIU aims to demonstrate Respect for the Dignity of the Individual, Respect for the Environment, and Honesty, Integrity, and Truth as Institutional Values. YAYA and FIU students fliered at the FIU Board of Trustees Meeting to alert the board members to the urgency of the situation that tobacco harvesters work in, as well as the power and responsibility that Betsy Atkins has to uphold FIU values, not only in the university, but also at Reynolds American.

Our message was clear: Tobacco farm workers deserve the same dignity and respect in the tobacco fields as do FIU students in the classroom!

Betsy Atkins, ask CEO Susan Ivey to meet with FLOC!