Farmworker rights march begins today in Tampa

Some farmworkers will be there, of course, but activists from all over Florida and beyond are expected for the three-day Farmworker's Freedom March that begins this morning in Tampa.

The march, which will end in Lakeland on Sunday, is designed to draw attention to wages and forced labor.

"We have people coming from all around the country and all around the state," said Julia Perkins, spokeswoman for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a human-rights organization that is coordinating the demonstration. "We don't know what the numbers are expected to be early in the march, but we have buses coming in from New York and Washington, D.C.''

She estimated there will be a couple hundred people at the start of the march near downtown Tampa, and a couple of thousand by the time the march finishes in Lakeland.

The march begins at Chillura Park in downtown Tampa at 9 a.m. and heads north on Nebraska Avenue, then east on Busch Boulevard and ending at the Publix in Temple Terrace at 6 p.m.

Saturday's march will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Publix supermarket on James Redman Parkway in Plant City and head to Lakeland, ending at the grocery chain's headquarters. Sunday's march begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Publix on South Florida Avenue in Lakeland and ends at Munn Park with a demonstration and concert.

"We wanted to have a large and strong and visible action over the course of a number of days," said Marc Rodrigues of the Student Farmworker Alliance, a group that is participating in the event.

Perkins said the focus of the march is the prices paid for tomatoes by Publix, which has its headquarters in Lakeland. The group wants farmworkers to be paid an extra penny a pound for tomatoes.

Many groups, including four of the largest fast-food restaurants, have agreed to the hike, the first for tomato pickers in more than 30 years, she said.

Publix, she said, "is kind of one of the last ones holding out."

Publix officials could not be reached for comment.