Over the course of the three-day weekend, Fair Food activists in over 40 cities (including Washington, DC, with the Wendy’s look alike pictured above) formed delegations to visit local Wendy’s restaurants and talk to the managers about the Fair Food Program. The weekend’s action was just a first glimpse of the Campaign for Fair Food for the Ohio-based hamburger giant, the last of the country’s top five fast-food chains to refuse to partner with the CIW to improve farm labor conditions in its supply chain. There will be much more action to come at local Wendy’s restaurants in the months ahead, including a huge national day of action this Valentines Day, February 14th!

Several cities have sent pictures from their visits, a selection of which, along with some first-hand reports, are collected here below. Enjoy these pics, and get ready for the big day of action in three weeks!…

Rio Grande Valley, Texas:

“We had a spirited delegation to a Wendy’s restaurant, in which students visiting the RGV from Easton, PA took part. They said they are going to do manager letter drops to all the Wendy’s in Easton when they get home! “

Baltimore, Maryland:

“Here’s a pic from from the Wendy’s action we just pulled off in Baltimore (MLK Boulevard & McCulloh St.). Much love & solidarity from Baltimore – the United Workers and the Healthcare is a Human Right crew!! “

Denver, Colorado:

“On January 21st, 2013, the Denver Fair Food committee marched in 27th annual Marade – the largest MLK march in the country – and a delegation of about a dozen folks representing various student, labor and human rights groups went to the Wendy’s on along the march/parade route to deliver a letter to the manager.

Denver Fair Food Committee Member Lani Barry and Student/Farmworker Alliance steering committee member Joe Deras were on hand to explain that Wendy’s could no longer deny the fact that they profit from the injustices in the fields of Florida but a new day in the fields is here. The manager promised to pass the letter along to their corporate headquarters (and the franchise owner of the restaurant).”

Oakland, California

“We talked to the shift manager about the campaign and urged them to talk to higher admin. We talked about coming back at a later time.”

Ithaca, New York

“We visited the Wendy’s here in Ithaca and gave the manager letter to the manager on shift. He seemed a bit caught off guard but overall receptive and willing to share the information with the rest of the managers.”

One last note: The Ithaca delegation was by no means alone in finding a receptive manager. In fact — in what is almost certainly a first for the Campaign for Fair Food — a number of delegations sent back pictures of managers proudly holding the letter themselves.

While we have chosen not to share those particular pictures (for obvious reasons), we will say that the supportive response of so many local managers is most likely a reflection of the undeniable logic of the call for Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program at this time. With all of its competition on board, and with the Fair Food Program now an established, widely recognized success, even Wendy’s managers realize that the company has no valid reason to continue to fight progress. Seems that it’s up to the executives, now, to decide just how long, and how hard, that fight will be.