2,000 Migrant Workers Missing from Local Economy;
Tomato Fields Not Planted

By KAREN JOLLY DAVIS
Cape Charles Wave

July 10, 2012

One family’s troubles echo through the entire community. At least, so it seems on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, where East Coast Brokers and Packers have not planted tomatoes and more than 2,000 workers who normally would live here in the summer are not coming.

“They contribute to this economy,” said Jim Albright, regional coordinator for Justice and Peace for the Catholic Diocese of Richmond, about the missing migrant farmworkers.

Tomato pickers buy food, gas and supplies locally, said Albright. They patronize laundromats, fast food restaurants and auto repair shops. Employees of at least 12 state, federal and county organizations spend part or all of their time working with migrants—which translates into local jobs. Farmworkers pay sales taxes — and all state and federal taxes are withheld from their pay checks, including social security payments.

“They’re not being paid under the table,” said Albright.

The local trouble started in Florida, focused on the family of Batista J. Madonia Sr. Madonia Sr.—a sometime Cape Charles resident–and his family own several companies, including East Coast Brokers and Packers, Stellaro Bay, Inc., and the Circle M Ranch in Lakeland, Florida.

According to the Tampa Tribune, the Madonias are known in Florida for their generosity. In his book, Tomatoland, Barry Estabrook says East Coast Brokers and Packers quit the powerful Florida Tomato Growers Exchange in the fall of 2009, and partnered with a group called the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

In September of 2009, the Modonias convinced their client, Compass Group North America, to pay 1.5 cents per pound extra for their tomatoes, with 1 cent per pound passed directly to the field workers.

”Although it was probably not the most popular decision, it was a decision we chose to make for our workers and for our partners in business,” Madonia Jr. said in The Packer, a fresh produce industry newsletter. “If there’s a way I can give them (the workers) a better standard of living, they can have a better life and if this doesn’t adversely affect my business at all, there’s no way I could not let this happen.” [Read more…]

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More July 4th Parade and Raffle Winners Discovered

They say that news travels fast on the Eastern Shore, but nevertheless it took five days to learn the winners of the two final categories in the Cape Charles July 4th Parade.

“Best Novelty Entry” was won by the Old School Cape Charles group, represented in the top photo by (from left) Katie Wendell, Frank Wendell, and Tommy Godwin.

“Best Equestrian Group” was Pfeiffer Training Stables, shown in the bottom photo.

See our other stories for the rest of the parade winners.

Winners of the New Roots Youth Garden’s July 4th raffle were:

1st prize ($500) – Stuart Smith (Cape Charles)

2nd prize ($250) – Frank Yerabek (Smithfield)

3rd prize ($100) – Bob Panek (Cape Charles)

We’re still waiting for the results of the Golf Cart raffle . . . .

Correction: Planning Commission Meeting is Tuesday, July 10

The July 9 story, “Developer Applies to Convert Old School to Apartments,” inadvertently gave the date of the Planning Commission’s next meeting as June 10. The correct date is Tuesday, July 10. The Wave regrets the error.