2 Florida farms agree to pay tomato pickers moreLAURA WIDES-MUNOZ MIAMI (AP) — Two Florida farms have decided to participate in a deal to increase the wages of the state's tomato pickers in an agreement with a farmworker advocacy group and upscale Whole Foods Market, the grocery chain announced Thursday. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Whole Foods said the farms will pay pickers 1 cent more per pound of tomatoes sold to the Austin, Texas, based company. Whole Foods will foot the bill. Florida provides most of the nation's domestic winter tomato crop. Florida workers earn about 47 cents per 32-pound bucket. That can mean an average of about $12 an hour during the picking season for the hardest workers, usually immigrants who receive no health insurance nor overtime. If all Florida tomatoes purchasers joined the penny deal, the farmworkers could nearly double their earnings. The idea is that the national restaurant and grocery chains that have the deep pockets pay the extra money, including administrative costs, and the farmers pass it on to the workers when they receive their checks. The deals also permit the coalition to serve as a mediator when labor |