{"id":264465,"date":"2026-05-09T05:53:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-09T05:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/264465\/"},"modified":"2026-05-09T05:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-09T05:53:14","slug":"hundreds-march-for-planting-justice-in-coral-gables","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/264465\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds march for planting justice in Coral Gables"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>WeCount! workers and allies gather behind plant nursery worker Alejandro Perez Gonzalez as he gives a speech on May 1, 2026. \/\/ Photo by Emil Salgado Vazquez<\/p>\n

Hundreds of workers, faith leaders, students and community members rallied in Coral Gables to join the 2-mile \u201cMarch for Planting Justice\u201d along US-1 on May 1.\u00a0<\/p>\n

WeCount!<\/a>, a nonprofit of immigrant workers and families in South Florida, organized the protest to call on major retailers \u2014 such as ALDI US, Trader Joe\u2019s, Target, Home Depot and Sprouts Farmers Market \u2014 to join the Planting Justice<\/a> campaign.<\/p>\n

The campaign demands that major retailers commit to buying only from growers who follow a worker-developed \u201ccode of conduct.\u201d The proposed standards include heat protections and oversight by an independent monitoring council.<\/p>\n

Marchers set off in the March for Planting Justice in Coral Gables on May 1, 2026. \/\/ Video by Emil Salgado Vazquez.<\/p>\n

This march was part of May Day protests for International Workers\u2019 Day, and organizations like 32BJ SEIU, the ACLU, Florida AFL-CIO, and Beyond the Bars joined WeCount! in protesting for workers\u2019 rights, social justice and empowerment.<\/p>\n

Oscar Londo\u00f1o<\/a> and Claudia Navarro<\/a>, co-executive directors of WeCount!, led the march.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany people don\u2019t know that 80% of houseplants are grown by workers here in Florida,\u201d Londo\u00f1o said. \u201cThese workers are experiencing poverty wages, dangerous working conditions and a culture of intimidation and retaliation for speaking up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>WeCount! co-executive director Oscar Londo\u00f1o (right) watches a Florida AFL-CIO member give a speech in Coral Gables on May 1, 2026. \/\/ Photo by Emil Salgado Vazquez.<\/p>\n

WeCount! provided buses for plant nursery workers from Homestead to participate, many of whom missed work to march with community, labor and faith allies. During the march, a WeCount! delegation of members and allies stopped by several retailers to meet with management, delivering \u201cThe Human Cost of Houseplants\u201d<\/a> report and a letter to corporate leaders requesting a meeting.<\/p>\n

\"March<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Human Cost of Houseplants\u201d report surveyed more than 300 workers about their wages and working conditions in the plant nurseries of South Miami-Dade<\/a>. It found that South Florida\u2019s plant nursery workers \u2014 a majority immigrant women workforce \u2014 are facing an \u201cinvisible\u201d labor and human rights crisis.<\/p>\n

Londo\u00f1o explained that WeCount! previously sent a letter with these details to corporations in April, but received no reply.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, a delegation led by plant nursery workers and community and faith allies, came together, entered the stores, delivered the report directly to the store manager and asked them to share our message with corporate leadership,\u201d Londo\u00f1o said. \u201cWe want a meeting, and we need it now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A WeCount! delegation meets with a Trader Joe\u2019s manager in Coral Gables on May 1, 2026. \/\/ Photo by Emil Salgado Vazquez.<\/p>\n

UM students like senior Alejandro Vazquez attended the march. He reflected that, as someone not involved in politics while growing up, he was unaware of local struggles.<\/p>\n

Vazquez held a banner that read, \u201cPLANT RETAILERS: WORKERS HAVE THE SOLUTION. JOIN PLANTING JUSTICE.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a Hispanic student, as someone that sees what\u2019s going on and the issues with migrant workers I felt that it would be wrong for me not to come,\u201d Vazquez said. \u201cI think that everyone should find what they believe in, and stand up for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>UM student Alejandro Vazquez holds a banner that reads: \u201cPLANT RETAILERS: WORKERS HAVE THE SOLUTION. JOIN PLANTING JUSTICE.\u201d May 1, 2026. \/\/ Photo by Emil Salgado Vazquez.<\/p>\n

UM medical students Karan Prasad and Elena Bosack attended to support efforts to prevent heat exhaustion among Miami-Dade workers. Bosack said both work at a Doctors Without Borders clinic and frequently see heat-related injuries.<\/p>\n

Prasad tries to think ahead to his career as a future physician.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be serving the community,\u201d Prasad said. \u201cSo it\u2019s important that we stand up for the community that we\u2019re going to be serving in our future. All these problems that affect [workers] and their health, it trickles down.\u201d<\/p>\n

UM and Florida International University alumni also participated in the march.<\/p>\n

Laura Mu\u00f1oz, an FIU alum and member of Florida Student Power<\/a>, a youth-led nonprofit that builds political power among young people, helped translate speeches from Spanish-speaking workers.<\/p>\n

When Mu\u00f1oz was a student at FIU in 2014, her father passed away in his workplace due to unsafe working conditions. Since then, she has worked to demand better working conditions for workers like her dad. She said that movements like WeCount! need students like her, especially immigrant students, because students are the ones who get access to places of academic and other forms of power.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in a state that has strategically attempted to silence and discourage students [from speaking out],\u201d Mu\u00f1oz said. \u201cWe need to honor the courage of all the students that still do it, and [offer] support so that more can get involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Florida Student Power member Laura Mu\u00f1oz translates a speech from a WeCount! member in Coral Gables on May 1, 2026. \/\/ Photo by Emil Salgado Vazquez.<\/p>\n

One faith ally at the forefront of the march was Rabbi Nachshon Carmi, an associate rabbi at the Center for Jewish Life at Beth David.<\/p>\n

\u00a0He said he drew inspiration from his own religion to stand with the workers and that, for Jewish students at UM, there is an opportunity for an easy mitzvah. Students may be directly benefiting from the plant nursery workers\u2019 labor without realizing it, and that is not kosher, according to Rabbi Carmi.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s happening in this industry is just not right,\u201d Rabbi Carmi said. \u201cThe houseplants that make our homes and offices beautiful are not kosher because they are produced through abusing people in contradiction to the Torah. So [UM students] can join this campaign and feel good about the plants that they buy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Rabbi Nachshon Carmi (right) marches in solidarity with WeCount! in Coral Gables on May 1, 2026. \/\/ Photo by Emil Salgado Vazquez.<\/p>\n

Politicians, including Richard Lamondin<\/a>, Miami-born entrepreneur and Democratic candidate for Florida\u2019s State Senate District 38, also attended. District 38 represents UM.<\/p>\n

Lamondin said that he believes South Florida workers deserve benefits \u201cas basic as water breaks and shade breaks.\u201d He criticized Florida\u2019s leadership for having workers be the \u201clast on [their minds],\u201d especially as the cost of living is rising in Miami. He also said he believes that UM students should pay attention to the movement.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven students that are not from Miami, even students that are planning on going into office jobs and other jobs, we all do better when we all do better,\u201d Lamondin said. \u201cIf we don\u2019t stand up for [workers] and make sure that they receive the pay, the rights and the opportunities that everyone else has in this country, then I think we are not doing our job as citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WeCount! workers and allies gather behind plant nursery worker Alejandro Perez Gonzalez as he gives a speech on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264466,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":["post-264465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-hialeah","tag-hialeah","tag-hialeah-headlines","tag-hialeah-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264465","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264465"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264465\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}