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Save the Date!
Nov. 30 - Dec. 2, 2007 -
Miami, Florida
~Please forward widely~
CIW: "Today, in the wake of the Yum Brands and
McDonald’s agreements, we stand on the
threshold of a more modern, more humane
agricultural industry in Florida. Yet, facing this
historic opportunity, Burger King seems to have
chosen business as usual over progress,
continued exploitation over justice. It is time for
Burger King to seize the moment and stand with
Florida's tomato pickers in our fight for fundamental
human rights in the fields."
What: Coalition of Immokalee Workers announces
a march to Burger King Headquarters in Miami,
Florida, to coincide with Burger King’s annual
shareholder meeting.
When: Friday, November 30th, 2007
Details: Mark your calendars and start organizing
today to join us at Burger King’s headquarters in
Miami this November for:
Contact: Email workers@ciw-online.org for more
details on the upcoming action. And check www.
ciw-online.org for more background and campaign
updates in the months ahead.
Nov. 30 - Dec. 2, 2007 -
Miami, Florida
~Please forward widely~
CIW: "Today, in the wake of the Yum Brands and
McDonald’s agreements, we stand on the
threshold of a more modern, more humane
agricultural industry in Florida. Yet, facing this
historic opportunity, Burger King seems to have
chosen business as usual over progress,
continued exploitation over justice. It is time for
Burger King to seize the moment and stand with
Florida's tomato pickers in our fight for fundamental
human rights in the fields."
What: Coalition of Immokalee Workers announces
a march to Burger King Headquarters in Miami,
Florida, to coincide with Burger King’s annual
shareholder meeting.
When: Friday, November 30th, 2007
Details: Mark your calendars and start organizing
today to join us at Burger King’s headquarters in
Miami this November for:
- March with the CIW through downtown Miami,
Friday, November 30th. The march will start at
the offices of Goldman Sachs, a major
shareholder in Burger King, and culminate at
Burger King headquarters in a rally featuring
farmworkers, national and local supporters of
the Campaign for Fair Food, theater, music,
art and more. Major speakers will be
announced in the coming weeks…
- A weekend of events to follow, including a
Concert for Fair Food on Saturday, December
1st and activities with Miami-area faith
communities on Sunday, December 2nd.
Contact: Email workers@ciw-online.org for more
details on the upcoming action. And check www.
ciw-online.org for more background and campaign
updates in the months ahead.
Background:
In the spring of 2005, Taco Bell and the CIW announced an
historic initiative to address the ever-deepening poverty and
decades of degradation faced by farmworkers in Florida. At
that time, Taco Bell called on its fast-food industry
counterparts to join in demanding fair wages and humane
treatment for the workers who pick their tomatoes.
In April of this year, following a hard-fought campaign, the
CIW and McDonald’s announced a similar agreement,
whereby the world’s largest restaurant chain pledged to not
only meet the standards set in the Taco Bell accord, but to
help extend those standards to the industry level. Specifically,
McDonald’s committed to work with the CIW to develop an
industry-wide mechanism for monitoring labor conditions in
the fields and investigating workers’ complaints of abuse. Like
Taco Bell, McDonald’s challenged the rest of the fast-food
industry to step up to these higher standards.
Shortly after the McDonald’s agreement was reached, Yum
Brands, Taco Bell’s parent company, announced that it was
extending its agreement with the CIW to cover the rest of its
five major fast-food brands – Pizza Hut, KFC, Long John
Silver’s, and A&W Restaurants. With that announcement, the
CIW secured the support of both the largest restaurant
company in the world (Yum Brands) and the world’s largest
restaurant chain (McDonald’s), building unprecedented
momentum for an industry-wide effort to secure long-overdue
justice in Florida’s fields.
Burger King, however, has stubbornly refused to require
these higher standards of its tomato suppliers. While Yum
Brands and McDonald’s have demonstrated that it is both
necessary and possible to improve farm labor conditions,
Burger King has continued to ignore the exploitation of the
workers who pick its tomatoes, and refused to work with the
CIW to address that exploitation. Instead, it has chosen to
side with Florida tomato growers in their efforts to maintain an
unconscionable status quo, supporting the growers’ efforts to
undermine the hard-won advances in wages and working
conditions established in the agreements with Taco Bell and
McDonald’s.
Yet Burger King, as the only major fast-food company
headquartered in South Florida, is much closer than any of its
competitors to the shameful reality in Florida’s tomato fields
today. Company executives need only open their morning
papers to read the steady drumbeat of headlines and
exposes, with such recent titles as “Fields of Desperation –
Destitute Farmworkers Exploited” (Miami Herald) and
“Modern Day Slavery – Still Harvesting Shame” (Palm Beach
Post).
Furthermore, Burger King is hardly a passive observer of
farmworker exploitation. Rather, the fast-food giant plays an
active role in keeping farmworkers poor. A May, 2005, article
published in the produce industry journal “The Packer”
describes in detail how fast-food industry demands for lower
prices are passed on to farmworkers in the form of wage cuts.
The article, entitled, “Big fast-food contracts breaking tomato
re-packers,” cites the example of a recent move by Burger
King to demand still lower tomato prices from its suppliers as
evidence of its claims.
Justice delayed is justice denied. It is time, finally, for Burger
King to stop resisting progress and to start working for justice.
It is time, finally, for Burger King to join the CIW, McDonald’s
and Taco Bell in defining the way forward, a path to more
humane conditions for the workers who pick its tomatoes.
In April as we celebrated the McDonald’s victory, we promised
that Burger King would hear from us by the end of the year if
it continued to stand in the way of change. Today, we
encourage our allies in Florida and across the country to help
us keep that promise – and the promise of dignified and fair
conditions for farmworkers – by joining us in Miami on
November 30th and participating in what is sure to be an
exciting march, rally, and weekend of events.
In the spring of 2005, Taco Bell and the CIW announced an
historic initiative to address the ever-deepening poverty and
decades of degradation faced by farmworkers in Florida. At
that time, Taco Bell called on its fast-food industry
counterparts to join in demanding fair wages and humane
treatment for the workers who pick their tomatoes.
In April of this year, following a hard-fought campaign, the
CIW and McDonald’s announced a similar agreement,
whereby the world’s largest restaurant chain pledged to not
only meet the standards set in the Taco Bell accord, but to
help extend those standards to the industry level. Specifically,
McDonald’s committed to work with the CIW to develop an
industry-wide mechanism for monitoring labor conditions in
the fields and investigating workers’ complaints of abuse. Like
Taco Bell, McDonald’s challenged the rest of the fast-food
industry to step up to these higher standards.
Shortly after the McDonald’s agreement was reached, Yum
Brands, Taco Bell’s parent company, announced that it was
extending its agreement with the CIW to cover the rest of its
five major fast-food brands – Pizza Hut, KFC, Long John
Silver’s, and A&W Restaurants. With that announcement, the
CIW secured the support of both the largest restaurant
company in the world (Yum Brands) and the world’s largest
restaurant chain (McDonald’s), building unprecedented
momentum for an industry-wide effort to secure long-overdue
justice in Florida’s fields.
Burger King, however, has stubbornly refused to require
these higher standards of its tomato suppliers. While Yum
Brands and McDonald’s have demonstrated that it is both
necessary and possible to improve farm labor conditions,
Burger King has continued to ignore the exploitation of the
workers who pick its tomatoes, and refused to work with the
CIW to address that exploitation. Instead, it has chosen to
side with Florida tomato growers in their efforts to maintain an
unconscionable status quo, supporting the growers’ efforts to
undermine the hard-won advances in wages and working
conditions established in the agreements with Taco Bell and
McDonald’s.
Yet Burger King, as the only major fast-food company
headquartered in South Florida, is much closer than any of its
competitors to the shameful reality in Florida’s tomato fields
today. Company executives need only open their morning
papers to read the steady drumbeat of headlines and
exposes, with such recent titles as “Fields of Desperation –
Destitute Farmworkers Exploited” (Miami Herald) and
“Modern Day Slavery – Still Harvesting Shame” (Palm Beach
Post).
Furthermore, Burger King is hardly a passive observer of
farmworker exploitation. Rather, the fast-food giant plays an
active role in keeping farmworkers poor. A May, 2005, article
published in the produce industry journal “The Packer”
describes in detail how fast-food industry demands for lower
prices are passed on to farmworkers in the form of wage cuts.
The article, entitled, “Big fast-food contracts breaking tomato
re-packers,” cites the example of a recent move by Burger
King to demand still lower tomato prices from its suppliers as
evidence of its claims.
Justice delayed is justice denied. It is time, finally, for Burger
King to stop resisting progress and to start working for justice.
It is time, finally, for Burger King to join the CIW, McDonald’s
and Taco Bell in defining the way forward, a path to more
humane conditions for the workers who pick its tomatoes.
In April as we celebrated the McDonald’s victory, we promised
that Burger King would hear from us by the end of the year if
it continued to stand in the way of change. Today, we
encourage our allies in Florida and across the country to help
us keep that promise – and the promise of dignified and fair
conditions for farmworkers – by joining us in Miami on
November 30th and participating in what is sure to be an
exciting march, rally, and weekend of events.
| 150 SW 13th Avenue, Miami, FL 33135 Phone (786) 264-1708; Fax (786) 264-1859 interfaith@sfiwj.org; www.sfiwj.org |
| COALITION OF IMMOKALEE WORKERS |