.....Hannaford has resisted calls from farmers and farmworkers to join the Milk with Dignity Program since 2019, despite well-documented labor abuses and severe human rights violations on the farms producing Hannaford-brand milk. Migrant Justice’s campaign has received support from national faith organizations, labor and climate groups, agricultural organizations, legislators, and thousands of Hannaford customers who have sent emails, written postcards, made calls, and attended rallies.

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Migrant Justice has documented cases of physical abuse, substandard housing, discrimination, rampant health and safety violations, and retaliation on farms that sell to Hannaford's suppliers.

Without adequate training or protection from retaliation, Hannaford’s standards of engagement offer these workers no meaningful protections.

Further, in the case of one worker, the retaliation he faced for speaking up was damaging enough that not only did he leave the area, but such events have had a chilling effect on other workers who might consider raising concerns. In such an atmosphere, an absence of complaints should not be considered as evidence that all is well.

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While both of these industry groups [National Milk Producers Federation and the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy] may do good work in their area of expertise, neither has an explicit focus on protecting the human rights of workers ...

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The FARM self-assessments are likely a useful tool for farmers. But they are by no means structured to prioritize human rights. FARM standards are a collection of suggestions for best practices for creating an HR manual and becoming “an employer of choice” – this is not about workers’ rights or protections.

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So far in Migrant Justice’s conversations with workers on northeast dairy farms, the only consequence of Hannaford’s engagement has been the posting of “Restricted Access” signs, which workers viewed as retaliatory and an attempt to bar advocates from visiting them in on-farm housing – not resolving or providing remedy to any of the issues raised.

As key rights-holders, workers should be engaged in the process of assessments. Instead, workers report being unaware of any such assessment and have not been consulted, even in cases where they have reported violations via Hannafords’ Speak Up line.

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