The North Carolina Growers Association and the Farm Labor Organizing Committee have signed the first union contract in the nation for guest workers-- covering 8,500 Mexican migrant workers. A separate contract was signed between the union and the Mount Olive Pickle Company, ending a five-and-a-half-year boycott campaign against the company over worker mistreatment. The agreement with the growers' association provides grievance procedures and a seniority system, which allows guest workers to report labor abuses without the fear of retaliation.
See "Growers' Group Signs the First Union Contract for Guest Workers", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, September 16, 2004