The Farm Labor Practices Group (FLPG) is a multi-stakeholder initiative, formed in 2012, committed to improving labor practices on farms and thereby enhancing the farmworker’s experience.  The FLPG brings together key voices representing different sectors and perspectives, including growers/farmers, worker advocates, manufacturers and others who sell agricultural products, and government agencies.  The work of the FLPG is facilitated by a third party, the Keystone Policy Center, and includes the following member organizations.

• Alliance One International, Inc.
• Altria Client Services LLC
• Consulate General of Mexico in Raleigh* 
• Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility
• North Carolina Agribusiness Council, Inc.* 
• North Carolina Agromedicine Institute* 
• North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services*
• North Carolina Department of Commerce – Division of Workforce Solutions* 
• North Carolina Department of Labor – Agricultural Safety and Health* 
• North Carolina Farm Bureau* 
• RAI Service Company
• Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina
• Universal Leaf Tobacco Company, Inc
• U.S. Department of Labor – Wage and Hour Division

*Advisory member

The FLPG serves as a forum for constructive dialogue about farm labor practices in tobacco-producing states and collaboratively develops solutions through multi-stakeholder discussions and goal-centric programs. The FLPG evolved from an initial discussion about North Carolina tobacco production in response to issues raised in a Farm Labor Organizing Committee/Oxfam 2011 report on North Carolina’s tobacco industry and the stakeholders’ shared interest regarding human rights on all tobacco farms. 

FLPG’s primary areas of interest include:

• Improving farm labor practices including those related to a safe working and housing environment
• Promoting worker/human rights considerations in U.S. Agriculture, including freedom of association and effective grievance mechanisms
• Creating and expanding farm labor education programs for growers and farm labor contractors to enhance their knowledge and compliance
• Improving employer and worker understanding and compliance with applicable labor, health, wage and safety laws and regulations 
• Addressing emerging on-farm health and safety issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic
• Exploring policy solutions for labor and other relevant topics