The Dine with Dignity campaign's latest action came courtesy of the United Workers from Baltimore, who gathered last week for a rally and delegation at Aramark headquarters in Philadelphia as part of their "Fair Food Solidarity Tour." (Don't miss this brief but important reflection on the Aramark campaign and all the latest Aramark news.)

The UW was joined in front of Aramark headquarters for a chilly but energetic rally by local SFA members and other CIW allies, including students from Philadelphia's own (and Aramark campus) St. Joseph's University. A delegation including members of the United Workers, Just Harvest USA, the Unified Taxi Workers Alliance, the Media Mobilzing Project, Students for Worker's Rights, and others delivered this letter to Aramark — signed by nearly 50 local and national organizations — plus nearly 140 letters of support from students at St. Joseph's.

The rally would soon swell to nearly 60 people standing shoulder-to-shoulder with workers in Immokalee, calling on Aramark to take responsibility for conditions faced by tomato harvesters in its supply chain. Reflecting on last week's sojourn, the United Workers wrote the following, which could also describe the spirit behind SFA's work:

"Solidarity is a mindset and a value based on the belief that everyone is inherently worthy of dignity and respect. We are all human, and that is what binds us together and obligates us to struggle together for our shared respect and dignity. The specific context of our struggles differ, and we benefit strategically by fighting locally and building strong local organizations. But the ultimate struggle is the same, whether we are taxi drivers, domestic workers, students, media mobilizers, restaurant workers, child care workers, day laborers, stadium cleaners, retail workers or farm workers. This tour is about being human together, coming together in the only way possible if we are to be truly human. It about singing together, conversing together, joking and laughing, standing up together and joining in solidarity together..."

UW members were out in full force...

...helping to raise consciousness about Aramark and sweatshops in the fields through some great campaign literature...

Of course, any tour worth its salt also involves plenty of education. Here, CIW. SFA and United Workers team up for a presentation at Goucher College in Baltimore.

...as our friends here in Quincy, Massachusetts did late last week at Ahold USA headquarters (Yep, that's the same logo on that building - Ahold is the parent company of supermarket chains Giant and Stop & Shop.) This "New England Delegation for Farmworker Justice" brought together representatives from — and delivered a letter signed by — organizations including Rhode island Jobs with Justice, Boston Faith and Justice Coalition, Fair Trade Boston Campaign, City Life/Vida Urbana, Massachusetts Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, and the Brown University Real Food Challenge, and received coverage in the Boston Herald (Farmworkers Eye Stop & Shop,12/13)

All told, it was an important week and one that demonstrated the concept of solidarity at the heart of the Campaign for Fair Food: farmworkers and other low-wage workers coming together with students and consumers to demand that corporations like Aramark take responsbility for the impact their business practices have on workers, their families, and their communities.

This week was also just a small sampling of things to come, as we get set to intensify the Dine with Dignity campaign focusing on Aramark and Sodexo in the coming semester and workers from Immokalee and their allies across the country prepare for a major mobilization on Publix headquarters in Lakeland this spring. Stay tuned...

In the meantime, you can make a vital contribution to keep our work moving forward — and help our 2009 Sustainer Drive reach its goal in its final days — by becoming a Sustaining Member of SFA today.