Florida tomato pickers’ fight for fair wages and better working conditions became a topic at Wednesday night’s Democratic debate in Miami between Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton.
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The fight to improve wages for Florida’s tomato pickers hit the national stage over the past week, as part of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination.
Last Saturday, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign released a five-minute documentary highlighting the struggles — and successes — of tomato pickers in Immokalee, Fla. As Barry Estabrook documented in his 2011 book Tomatoland, these workers faced poverty wages and were subjected to pesticide-laden fields, abusive bosses and slave-like working conditions.
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