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Migrant farm workers and their supporters picketed outside the headquarters of Hannaford on Friday afternoon to press the supermarket chain to sign onto the Milk with Dignity Program.

Hannaford has 180 stores in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York, and sells its own brand of milk.

Scarborough police officers and private security guards kept the demonstrators off company property.

Most of the 100 people who spent two hours on the street in the 90-degree heat arrived on two charter buses that drove four hours from Vermont, New England's top dairy-producing state.

The chants and speeches alternated between English and Spanish, reflecting the native language of the farm workers, who are predominantly from Mexico. Phoebe Dolan, of Maine Youth Power, said, "Around 40% of farm workers are paid less than minimum wage. Migrant workers need to be paid what they are owed. Leche con dignidad!" Milk with Dignity wants Hannaford to pressure its suppliers to pay better wages and provide better housing for migrant workers.

The demonstrators delivered 1,200 postcards from the chain’s customers supporting the cause. Will Lambek, the protest organizer from Vermont-based Migrant Justice, said, “Farm workers who are on those farms day in and day out, working seven days a week in dirty and dangerous conditions for low pay know what the conditions are, and they're calling on Hannaford to take responsibility join the program." Jose Ignacio, 27, from Mexico, said he works on a Vermont dairy farm 12 hours a day with one day off every two weeks. He lives there too with his wife and their baby. "We have pest infestations, bed bugs, cockroaches, rats. It's not good conditions at all," Ignacio said. Instead of a state minimum wage – which is currently $12.55 an hour in Vermont and $12.75 in Maine — migrant workers can be paid the federal minimum wage, which has been stuck at $7.25 an hour since 2009. Maine State Rep. Thom Harnett, a Democrat who co-chairs the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, said, "Much of what they're complaining about is legal. It is legal in Maine, it's legal in Vermont, it's legal throughout the United States. Farmworkers are not considered employees under Maine law; they're not allowed to organize without the risk of being fired."

Hannaford spokesperson Ericka Dodge said in a written statement the company requires all of its suppliers to sign a code of conduct, and that it engages in partnerships to advance its human rights beliefs and goals.

“Labor laws are to be followed stringently, and workers to be treated fairly and humanely. We are conducting due diligence and working with milk suppliers to further validate that our expectations are being met, not only by these direct suppliers but also by their suppliers as well,” Dodge said. “Specific to dairy products, we are conducting due diligence and working with our private-brand milk suppliers to further validate that our expectations are being met in all instances, not only by these direct suppliers but by their suppliers as well. While our work is ongoing, to date, Hannaford has not uncovered any specific information that ties migrant worker abuses to any identified farm within Hannaford’s supply chain.”

Only one company has joined the Milk with Dignity Program – Vermont-based ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s.

Maine Farm Bureau Executive Director Julie Ann Smith said most of Maine’s 174 dairy farms are small, family-owned operations, while some larger ones do employ migrant workers.

Smith said two cooperatives, Dairy Farmers of America and Agri-Mark, sell the milk produced by commercial Maine farmers and subject them to standards and inspections.

Of Friday’s demonstrators, Smith said, “They say there is a problem when there isn’t one in the state of Maine.”

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