Farm workers and their allies delivered nearly 5,000 letters from consumers around the country to convenience chain Kangaroo Express at its headquarters in Cary, N.C., this week. The letters call on its chairman of the board, Edwin Holman, to visit the tobacco fields and see firsthand the harsh working conditions of those who toil for Reynolds American.

For months, consumers and the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) have been urging Kangaroo Express, the largest convenience store chain in the Southeast that sells tobacco products, to encourage Reynolds American to develop with FLOC a written agreement guaranteeing freedom of association and collective bargaining for thousands of tobacco farm workers in North Carolina.

Hundreds of farm workers and their supporters are protesting at Reynolds American’s shareholders meeting in North Carolina today. The Farm Labor Organizing Committee’s Justin Flores says it’s part of an ongoing campaign to improve horrendous working conditions for tobacco field workers.

After more than four years of pressure from the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) and other worker advocates, several of the largest tobacco companies, tobacco growers and workers are close to sitting down to discuss the issues of freedom of association without fear of retaliation, wages, housing, forced labor and other issues.

Brenda Loya in AFL-CIO Media Affairs sends us this from North Carolina, where she is on a fact-finding trip to witness the brutal conditions endured by tobacco workers.

We joined a diverse delegation of 25 activists, students, labor and community leaders and traveled to farm labor camps in Dudley, N.C.., to witness firsthand the appalling and abusive conditions of tobacco farm workers.