Inadequate Standards Development Process Fair Trade USA’s Dairy program was developed to support the “Worker Wellbeing” pillar of Chobani’s Milk Matters initiative. Yet since its initial announcement, this program has been opposed by the very farmworkers it claims to benefit. Dangerous, even deadly working conditions have been documented on the New York dairy farms where Chobani sources milk for their yogurt. In conjunction with academic scholars, the Workers’ Center of Central New York (WCCNY) and the Workers’ Justice Center of Central New York co-authored a damning report, titled Milked: Immigrant Dairy Farmworkers in NY State.4 This report was the basis for an extended campaign calling on Chobani to address conditions in their supply chains. Yet the statements from WCCNY chronicle a series of refusals from Chobani to engage with workers and their organizing and instead to pursue Fair Trade USA for a corporate social responsibility partnership. In 2019, WCCNY issued a statement declaring, “There is no fair trade without workers’ rights. And respect for worker wellbeing has to include respect for workers’ right to freely associate. You say that you want to empower dairy farmworkers. Well, our power comes from having a collective voice to stand up for our rights.”5 Chobani has continued not to engage with these workers’ organizing directly. And Fair Trade USA willingly entered into this ongoing dispute to develop a certification. In press following the release of the label, a Fair Trade USA spokesperson spoke of Fair Trade USA being “a voice for the voiceless.”6 This kind of savior language glosses over the fact that they are applying their label in a situation where workers are organizing and have a strong, collective voice. It’s just not saying what the company wants to hear.
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