Tobacco firms agree to discuss farm workers' rights

(Winston-Salem Journal) A long-sought meeting of the minds on tobacco farm worker conditions has been agreed to by advocacy groups and several large tobacco manufacturers, including Reynolds American Inc.
The Farm Labor Organizing Committee said Wednesday that a council is being formed that includes tobacco growers in North Carolina, the state Labor Department and agricultural scientists.
According to the N.C. Growers Association, FLOC represents about 2,000 farm workers in North Carolina. The multiparty approach was also promoted by Oxfam America in its recent report on the stark conditions facing some workers on N.C. tobacco farms. Continued