One of every seven American workers, 21.5 million in all, are employed in the food system, which recovered relatively quickly from the 2008-09 recession. But the “workers themselves have not seen positive changes,” says a new report. “Poor working conditions, below-average wages and discriminatory and abusive practices are commonplace across the food chain.”
The report, “No piece of the pie,” by the Food Chain Workers Alliance, called for a $15-an-hour minimum wage, paid sick leave and “affordable health care,” and stronger laws to prevent wage theft by employers. Workers should be guaranteed the right to join labor unions. Only 6 percent of food chain workers are union members at present.
The median hourly wage in the food chain is $10, well below the median of $17.53 an hour across all industries, said the report. Because of low wages, 13 percent of food workers receive food stamps. “This was 2.2 times the rate of all other industries, a much higher rate than in 2010, when food workers had to use food stamps at 1.8 times the rate of all other industries,” said the report.