Farm

Labor
Organizing
Committee, AFL-CIO
1221 Broadway Street ♦ Toledo, Ohio 43609 ♦ Phone: 419-243-3456 ♦ Fax: 419-243-5655 ♦ www.floc.com
4354 US Hwy 117 Alt. S ♦ Dudley, NC 28333 ♦ Phone: 919-731-4433 ♦ Fax: 919-731-4441 ♦ www.floc.com

Press Release June 24, 2010

Contact Ohio: Baldemar Velasquez, bvelasq@floc.com, 419-243-3456
North Carolina: Justin Flores, jflores@floc.com, 919-731-4433

Reynolds American Board Member Resigns Due to FLOC Campaign Surrounding Labor Abuses
in Reynolds Supply Chain, FLOC shifts focus to Reynolds’ Lender JP Morgan Chase

After months of pressure from the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, AFL-CIO (FLOC), Betsy Atkins
resigned from the Reynolds American (RAI) board of directors on June 17, 2010. The labor union,
which represents tens of thousands of migrant farmworkers throughout the South East and Mid-West
United States, has been seeking a meeting with RAI CEO Susan Ivey to discuss human rights in their
supply chain, for almost three years to no avail. Refusing to be ignored, FLOC has sought to engage key
figures and corporations linked to RAI, such as Chico’s FAS, Inc., where Betsy Atkins also sits on the
Board of Directors.

FLOC organized months of public actions pointing out that serving as a board member at Chico’s,
which follows a strict “commitment to ethical sourcing,” is contradictory to serving on the Reynolds
board, which refuses to address the problems in its supply chain. After much dialogue with Chico’s
FAS, Inc., FLOC President Baldemar Velasquez was notified by Chico’s that Betsy Atkins had tendered
her resignation.

Continuing to pressure RAI into a constructive dialogue, FLOC has recently focused on JP Morgan
Chase, a bank with close financial ties to RAI. Yesterday, President Velasquez issued a call to
consumers and organizations to pledge to withdraw their funds from JP Morgan Chase and tear up any
Chase credit cards if the company continues its refusal to help end the abuses in the supply chain of its
financial partner. At a rally and march in Detroit on Friday, June 25th, FLOC will officially announce the
beginning of this campaign, building support for a boycott of JP Morgan Chase along with a coalition
targeting the bank around the issues of bailout money and home foreclosures.

Who: Farm Labor Organizing Committee, national civil-rights leaders, and supporters

What: Mobilization outside of Chase bank to protest the financial giant's complicity in the abuse
of thousands of farmworkers and to demand a stop to the home foreclosures

Where: Gather at Grand Circus Park, Woodward across from Central Methodist Church; March
route will travel to Chase building in downtown Detroit (611 Woodward Ave.)

When: Friday, June 25th, 9:45am

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