A comprehensive report with policy recommendations for the 2023 Farm Bill in the U.S. Recommendations include further support for Worker-Driven Social Responsibility Programs (WSR).

“At its core, the WSR approach ensures that “worker organizations [are] the driving force in the creation, monitoring, and enforcement of programs designed to improve their wages and working conditions” via supply chain agreements with brands and retailers that leverage corporate purchasing power to require the following: financial support to raise farmworker pay and/or help suppliers (as in the case of Northeast dairy farms in the Milk with Dignity Program) to meet the labor standards established by the program; a binding-and enforceable commitment by the buyers “to stop doing business with suppliers who violate those standards;” and the creation of “monitoring and enforcement mechanisms designed to provide workers an effective voice in the protection of their own rights.” Tools employed in the FFP and Milk with Dignity to put these principles into practice include a code of conduct designed by farmworkers themselves (e.g., the Fair Food Code of Conduct); worker-to-worker education on workers’ rights under the Code of Conduct; a 24-hour complaint line, with a full complaint investigation and resolution process; and annual audits of all participating farms during which a majority of workers present are interviewed personally.

This approach provides an effective alternative to the failed model of corporate social responsibility commitments, which are typically voluntary and non-binding, without a clear enforcement mechanism, and have been declared “not fit for purpose” to protect human rights. It also helps fill the significant deficit in state and federal enforcement of labor laws—discussed elsewhere in this Report—that derives, in part, from disinvestment in agencies’ investigation resources and personnel. WSR also offers viable mechanisms for helping producers make the transition to paying higher wages and improving working conditions.

A key facet of WSR is recognizing that individual producers often face financial roadblocks to changing their wage and employment practices due to narrow profit margins and downward pressure on prices exerted by corporate buyers. WSR’s response puts the onus on those corporate buyers to offer price premiums or other financial contributions to support producers in taking the higher road. The downward pressure on prices and balance of power in supply chains are dynamics that Congress should account for in the design of policies to advance farmworkers’ wages and working conditions.”