7/30/2019 Consumers Gather at Kangaroo Express Stores to Demonstrate Concerns for North Carolina Tobacco Farmworkers
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PRESS ADVISORY CONTACT: Justin Flores, [email protected], 704-577-3480
Consumers Gather at Kangaroo Express Stores to Demonstrate Concerns for North Carolina
Tobacco Farmworkers on Human Rights Day
Greensboro, NCLeading up to International Human Rights Day, dozens of people are set to have an action
outside of three Kangaroo Express Convenience Store locations, including one at 3101 Yanceyville Street inGreensboro. Student and community groups hope to raise awareness about human rights abuses in the tobacco
fields of North Carolina and the positive role Kangaroo can play in bringing consumer concerns to tobaccoindustry leaders. Kangaroo is the largest convenience store chain in the Southeast. Tobacco products make up
over a third of Kangaroo sales and consumers believe this makes Kangaroo an integral part of the tobacco
supply chain and a key player in addressing its problems.
Kangaroo Express consumers who are students at local universities and members of the Beloved Community
Center are calling on Kangaroo Chairman Ed Holman to continue bringing their concerns about the conditions
of tobacco farmworkers in the fields of North Carolina to the attention of tobacco giants such as ReynoldsAmerican.
While there are multiple companies that buy tobacco in NC, such as Phillip Morris USA and Phillip MorrisInternational, Reynolds American is the largest tobacco company in the state and a leader in the tobacco
industry. For over five years, The Farm Labor Organizing Committee, a farmworker union representing tobacco
farmworkers, has sought to convince Reynolds to sign a written agreement guaranteeing labor rights in its
supply chain. To date, the company has not done so.
A recent report by Oxfam America and FLOC shows that human rights violations, including dilapidated
housing, sub-minimum wages, work related illness, and fear of retaliation for speaking out, are widespread inthe fields of North Carolina.
Human Rights Day is an opportunity for Kangaroo Express consumers to request that Chairman Holman deliver
a message to Reynolds American that Kangaroo Express customers want Reynolds to work with the FarmLabor Organizing Committee, to develop a written agreement that guarantees freedom of association and self-
determination for farm workers.
As Kangaroo consumers, we believe that these human rights abuses are unacceptable and we want ChairmanHolman to express our concerns about the unjust treatment of tobacco farmworkers in North Carolina to those
who have power in the tobacco industry, said Wesley Morris of the Beloved Community Center.
Who: Students and farmworker advocates
When: December 10, 4:30pm
Where: Kangaroo Express at 3101 Yanceyville Street, Greensboro, NC
What: Displaying of Banner, leafleting, and delivery of letter calling on Kangaroo Express Chairman
Ed Holman to bring consumer concerns for the just treatment of tobacco farm workers in thefields of North Carolina to Reynolds American.