He was with the CIW during the general strikes of the 1990’s, securing the release of farmworker leaders from the Collier County Jail when they were wrongly arrested by overzealous sheriff’s deputies.
He was with the CIW in 2000, when we marched for two weeks – and 234 miles – across the state of Florida on the March for Dignity, Dialogue, and a Fair Wage (pictured above).
He was with the CIW in 2005 when we negotiated our first-ever Fair Food Agreement with Taco Bell, and he was with us for every single Fair Food agreement since that first one, for a total of 14 groundbreaking agreements… and counting.
And we are proud to say that on April 24th in Washington, DC, we will be with him when the CIW’s longtime consigliere, Steve Hitov, will be recognized for his untiring dedication – and unparalleled contribution – to the vital work of protecting workers’ fundamental human rights in corporate supply chains. On that day, Steve will receive the first-ever Gwynne Skinner Human Rights Award, presented by the International Corporate Accountability Roundtable (ICAR).
If you don’t recognize Steve in the photo at the top of this post, there’s a reason for that: Just as you see him in the photo above, Steve was never the drum major at the front of the CIW’s very public, decades-long struggle. Instead, he has chosen to ply his trade outside the spotlight for more than twenty years, in the background of the CIW’s many marches, strikes, fasts, press conferences, panels and presentations.
Yet those who truly know the world of human rights and corporate accountability – and know the awesome power of the Worker-driven Social Responsibility model at the heart of the CIW’s Fair Food Program – know Steve, and cannot but respect the impact of his work over the past several decades in redressing the imbalance of power underlying the extreme poverty and exploitation faced by workers of all kinds at the bottom of global supply chains.
And one thing the Human Rights Award Selection Committee at ICAR knows is the world of human rights and corporate accountability!
We’ll bring you more on this wonderful news from the award ceremony later this month, but for now, here below is the ICAR press release announcing the selection...
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