Thursday, 09 February 2012 17:59
Bring Justice to the Tobacco Farmworkers of North Carolina
Send an e-fax to Kangaroo convenience store Chariman of the Board Ed Holman
Why hasn't chairman Holman responded to a request for a meeting?
Kangaroo, based in Cary, NC, is the largest convenience store chain in the Southeast, with stores in Georgia, Kentucky, Kansas, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia . McLane Co., Inc. is Reynolds largest customer and the largest distributor of tobacco products for Kangaroo.
In December 2011, a group of North Carolina organizations led by the Beloved Community Center wrote Kangaroo Chairman of the Board Ed Holman asking for a meeting to discuss how the NC based chain can help end human rights abuses in the tobacco fields of its home state . Holman has never responded to the letter.
Take action!
Click here to send an e-fax to Kangaroo and tell Holman
he needs to take this request for a meeting seriously!
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) has been trying to meet with Reynolds, North Carolina’s largest tobacco company, since 2007 to discuss ways that Reynolds can work towards ensuring safe and healthy conditions for tobacco farm workers but Reynolds has refused to meet with FLOC. Although Reynolds does not directly employ tobacco farm workers, by contracting with tobacco growers, it establishes standards which directly affect the living and working conditions of tobacco farm workers, both within its supply chain and even beyond.
In 2010, McLane comprised 27% of RAI’s consolidated revenue, over two billion dollars. We believe that McLane has a relationship with Reynolds and could advocate for a meeting between FLOC and Reynolds, yet no date has been set for a meeting between FLOC and Reynolds.
We believe that Kangaroo could make a difference in the lives of thousands of North Carolina tobacco farm workers by helping FLOC. But Kangaroo Chairman of the Board Holman has never responded to community concerns.