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CIW members, allies, and Alliance for Fair Food members confronted McDonald’s Board of Directors and shareholders at their annual meeting in Oak Brook, IL on Thursday asking McDonald’s once again to put aside their PR campaign and to take up meaningful steps towards real change for the farmworkers in their supply chain.
e and no benefits,’ said Lucas Benitez, co-founder of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in southwest Florida.”
5/3: FORMER SECRETARY OF LABOR ROBERT REICH, FORMER NLRB CHAIRMAN WILLIAM GOULD, AND HARVARD LABOR LAW PROFESSOR PAUL WEILER TELL McD’s TO “NEGOTIATE IN GOOD FAITH WITH CIW”!…
national student organizations — Student/Farmworker Alliance, United Students Against Sweatshops, Student Labor Action Project, National Latino/a Law Student Association, United States Student Association, and the Living Wage Action Coalition — representing the 18-24 yr. old market demographic McD’s has called its “Sweet Spot” have denounced the McD’s study in the strongest possible terms. Here’s an excerpt:
5/2: 2,800 TAKE TO THE STREETS OF IMMOKALEE FOR MAY DAY MARCH FOR IMMIGRANTS’ RIGHTS!… 
methodology to arrive at findings which, though only preliminary, provided the basis for a number of quite far-reaching conclusions. In fact, based on a look at records provided by just one of McDonald’s many suppliers, the study’s author concluded that it is indeed time for the CIW to end its campaign against McDonald’s.
damental human rights, like the right to overtime pay and freedom of association. Chipotle grew into a national chain as a brand with the image of humane treatment of animals and healthy meats and vegetables in its supply chain. They call that “Food with Integrity.”
of organizations fighting slavery honored the CIW for its outstanding contributions to the movement.
Click here for more great pictures from the event!
Declaring, “There is today a human rights crisis in Florida’s fields,” key CIW allies from across the country gathered with workers in Immokalee (right) to announce a powerful new alliance for, “fair wages and working conditions, fundamental human rights and an end to modern-day slavery in the agricultural industry.”
Founded by the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI), Student/Farmworker Alliance, and Interfaith Action, the Alliance for Fair Food (AFF) has been endorsed by nationally and internationally respected organizations and individuals, including: Congressman John Lewis (D-GA), Amnesty International USA, United Students Against Sweatshops, the AFL-CIO, author Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation), NAACP Board Chairman Julian Bond, Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter Bonnie Raitt, SEIU, and Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Click here to visit the Alliance for Fair Food website!
Read the AP Article on the event from the Miami Herald by clicking here.
Read the Presbyterian Church (USA) article on the AFF by clicking here.
Read the AFL-CIO blog report on the AFF by clicking here.
1/30: GROWING SCRUTINY OF GROWERS’ “SAFE” PROGRAM!… This past weekend, the Lakeland Ledger ran an intriguing article that provides further insight into the origins of the “SAFE” initiative, entitled “Growers Seeking SAFE Haven” (1/29/06):
“WASHINGTON — Jay Taylor recalls the seeds being sown last spring in a tomato packinghouse in Palmetto, where members of the restaurant industry and Florida agriculture met to discuss an escalating labor war.
That March, Taco Bell had agreed to pay tomato pickers in Florida an extra penny per pound and to demand new labor standards from growers after a threeyear boycott and a run of bad press. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the boycott organizer, had cast an unflattering spotlight on growers with a shame campaign against a big corporate customer.
Vegetable growers and other restaurant chains knew the Bell deal, the first of its kind, tolled for them.
Taylor said the message from restaurant representatives was clear: “You guys have got to do something about this issue.”
As the title and the opening paragraphs suggest, the name “SAFE” refers not so much to workers safe from exploitation and abuse, but growers seeking safety from further public criticism by this controversial new initiative. Read the full article by clicking here!
1/23: CIW RESPONDS TO McDONALD’S ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW STANDARDS… This past week, McDonald’s and a group of Florida growers announced what they are calling “rigorous new practices” to supplement the previously announced (and roundly criticized) “SAFE” initiative. We have responded to that announcement, and you can see the full response by clicking here. Here below is an excerpt:
“None of what has been announced addresses the fact that farmworkers still desperately need immediate economic relief, a raise in wages so that they can meet their basic needs and live free of the degradation that has been the shame of Florida agriculture for so
long…
… McDonald’s approach as announced deflects the entire burden — and cost – of social responsibility onto it suppliers. Yet McDonald’s bears at least some of the responsibility for farmworkers’ poverty. Why? Because through its high volume purchases, McDonald’s has been able to extract the lowest possible prices for tomatoes from its suppliers – and in so doing exert a downward pressure on farmworker wages – for decades.
In short, McDonald’s profits from farmworker poverty, and so needs to contribute to its alleviation. Yum Brands has now clearly recognized this and is today paying a fairer price for its tomatoes so that workers who pick those tomatoes can receive a fairer wage. No new strategy for social accountability will be complete until McDonald’s recognizes its own responsibility and contributes its share to help raise farmworkers’ unconscionably low wages, too.” READ MORE!
Plus, check out the latest story from Alternet!: “Beneath the Golden Arches”
12/18: McDONALD’S CAMPAIGN TAKES OFF!… Here’s the breakdown on all the news, analysis, allies, and action from the first few weeks of this fast developing campaign:
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“The SAFE code is a result of ‘a growing realization that corporate social responsibility is beginnning to wind its way into farming,’ said Ray Gilmer, FFVA’s public affairs director.” “Critics however, including national religious, student, and human rights organizations, questioned the credibility of a code of conduct developed by agriculture employers without input from the workers it claims to protect.’ READ MORE
>> Alternet 12/20, “McDonald’s versus the tomato pickers”: “‘Everyone’s watching the agreement Yum has with the coalition, and it seems to be working well,’ Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association spokesperson Gilmer said. “But the concern is that down the road, if there are additional wages that will end up making Florida farms the higher-cost alternative, and they’ll be undercut by other states or Mexico, since most farms don’t have these agreements.’ But the Immokalee Workers point out that the Florida Tomato Committee, an industry group that works with the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, has already successfully promoted the application of industry-wide surcharges on all Florida tomatoes as a means to pass rising input costs on to their customers. In the past several years, surcharges have been added to recoup increased costs for everything from chemicals to fuel. This, they say, shows that small wage increases would not be detrimental to the Florida tomato industry.” READ MORE
“Is McDonald’s more concerned with cleaning up human rights violations in the fields or their reputation in the market place? McDonald’s role in the creation of SAFE and its code of conduct – a document universally founded upon the principle of transparency – must be immediately clarified.” See the whole article here. ALSO… Click on the links below for more coverage: >> AP (12/1): “Churches call on McDonald’s to pay more to tomato pickers” >> AP(11/21): “Farmworkers take on McDonald’s” |
“What We Have Learned”… More questions have been raised than answered by McDonald’s response to the call by churches, human rights organizations, and countless consumers to clean up labor abuses in its tomato supply “According to the Palm Beach Post — in an article detailing the death of a bill to protect pesticide workers due, in part, to the FFVA’s opposition (“In capitol, reform hits stony ground”) — the FFVA is the state’s ‘largest pool of agricultural donors’ to the Florida legislature. The article goes on to say that, when the FFVA ‘recently held its annual convention at the Ritz-Carlton… the governor and the chairs of the House and Senate agricultural committees all made appearances.’… That same 2003 Palm Beach Post story reported that in her speech accepting the FFVA’s Lawmaker of the Year Award, State Senator Nancy Argenziano, Republican from Crystal River and Chair of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, declared, ‘The essence of freedom is the limitation of government.’ The FFVA is one partner — the senior partner, by all indications — in the new farm labor accountability project known as “SAFE”, a project with the stated goal of raising the standards for how Florida growers manage their labor, and of strictly enforcing those new standards so that companies like McDonald’s can rest assured that those new, higher standards are being met.” READ MORE
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Meanwhile, at the University of Texas, in an article entitled “McDonald’s boycott next?” by Jordan Buckley, the question is posed:
chain. We try to answer those questions in a recap and analysis of the dizzying developments from the past several weeks. Here’s an excerpt:
ALSO… Does Florida Labor Scandal Point to McDonald’s Supplier? The top story in the Ft. Myers News Press for Friday December 9, reads:But today he’s back in business furnishing labor to farmers in Florida and New Jersey.And it’s perfectly legal. He can’t own a gun or vote, but the law says he can work as a labor contractor five years after his conviction.
‘It may be legal, but it ain’t right,’ said Doug Molloy, chief assistant U.S. Attorney in Ft. Myers who prosecuted Cuello and his brother Basilio Cuello in 1999.” [Click here for full story, “Former smuggler, slaver back in business — legally”]
The question begs to be asked: If Cuello’s back furnishing labor, who buys the tomatoes picked by Cuello’s crews?Learn more by clicking here.
AlliesAction Alert
NCC TELLS McD’S: “We at the National Council of Churches expect you to do better”!
With a powerful statement that begins: “Every so often there comes a moment that holds out the promise of making the world a significantly better place, if only we take action. Today the McDonald’s corporation is presented with one of those moments — an opportunity to help transform the agri-food industry in ways that are fairer and more just. The question is, Will it seize this moment or will it retreat and protect the status quo?,” the National Council of Churches has brought its considerable moral authority — and member faith groups representing 45 million people across the nation — to the growing chorus of national institutions strongly critical of McDonald’s’ efforts to side-step calls for meaningful labor reforms in its tomato supply chain.
The NCC is the latest of dozens of key allies in the successful Taco Bell Boycott to have taken a strong stand in response to McDonald’s’ refusal to recognize the principles established in the precedent-setting agreement with Yum Brands. The NCC statement concludes:
“Now is the time for McDonald’s to become a partner with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in transforming those aspects of the agricultural and fast food industries that have exploited farmworkers for corporate profit. As a corporation that benefits in the form of low-cost tomatoes from the current system, you have a pressing moral responsibility to act now… Choose today to help advance human rights by working with the farmworkers whose vision for justice is even now bearing its first fruits in the fields.” Read the full statement here
Read statements by more key allies by clicking on the links below:
>> Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
>> Robert F. Kennedy Center for Human Rights
>> United Students Against Sweatshops
>> National Latina/o Law Students Association
>> National Farm Worker Ministry
>> Bishop John Nevins, Diocese of Venice
>> National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
Contact McDonald’s today and demand they, too, pay a fair 
price for their tomatoes and work with the CIW to end human rights violations in the fields!
For months, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and allies across the country have called on McDonald’s to do the right thing: Follow Taco Bell’s lead and work with the CIW to establish fair wages and working conditions for the farmworkers who pick its tomatoes.
In March of this year, Taco Bell agreed to take responsibility for the abysmal conditions faced by farmworkers who pick its tomatoes. The agreement established a partnership between Yum Brands, Taco Bell’s parent company, and the CIW and set several important precedents for social responsibility in the fast-food industry. Among those precedents, Taco Bell agreed to pay a penny more per pound for the tomatoes it buys from Florida growers, an increase that could nearly double workers’ sub-poverty wages, and to establish the first-ever enforceable Code of Conduct for US agricultural suppliers.
Yet despite strong public support for the ground-breaking agreement, McDonald’s has steadfastly refused to follow Taco Bell’s lead on this simple path to justice.
Join the CIW in calling on the world’s largest restaurant chain to stop dragging its feet and to work with the CIW to improve the wages and working conditions for the men and women who pick its tomatoes.
Contact McDonald’s today and demand they, too, pay a fair price for their tomatoes and work with the CIW to end human rights violations in the fields!
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Workers in Immokalee need YOU to take action! CLICK HERE to go to United Students Against Sweatshops’ excellent action page where you can email McDonald’s’ CEO Jim Skinner now!! OR: Go straight to the McDonald’s online comment form by clicking here (you may even get a comment back when you email here!). |
MEDIA MOMENTUM BUILDS FOR FAIR FOOD: BOYCOTT VICTORY AND FUTURE OF THE FAIR FOOD CAMPAIGN FEATURED ON PBS, NPR AND THE NEW YORK TIMES! ORDER YOUR FREE COPY OF THE “NOW” DVD TODAY! The hot summer weather brought a storm of media attention to the Taco Bell boycott victory. From newspapers to public radio and television, the boycott victory and ongoing campaign for fair food in the fast food industry are continuing to make waves. For starters, the CIW and the story of the boycott victory were featured on a 15 minute piece that ran on the PBS news program “NOW with David Brancaccio”. From the NOW website, here’s the description of the program which originally aired on May 27:
“It’s the dirty little secret of our fast food nation: the people who pick the cheap fruits and vegetables we enjoy every day are among the worst paid and worst treated workers in America. So how did a small band of immigrant workers pressure the largest fast food company in the world to do something that could help transform these workers lives? NOW tells the remarkable David vs. Goliath story of a group of Florida tomato pickers that went toe to toe with a corporate giant and won. Overcoming a climate of fear and violence, these workers fought an incredible four-year battle against Taco Bell and its parent company, Yum! Brands, to improve their working conditions and wages. Their success may have sparked a movement that could have important consequences for the nation.”
You can order a free DVD copy of this excellent piece on the fight for farmworker justice by contacting us today! This DVD is a great tool for analyzing the historic victory and preparing for the next steps! Also, be sure to visit NOW’s website for an in-depth exploration of the boycott by clicking here.
As if that wasn’t enought, on June 16 and 17 the CIW was featured on NPR’s nationally broadcast “All Things Considered.” If you missed either part of this two-part series, you can still hear the piece and see background documents through NPR’s website by clicking here for day 1 and here for day 2.
To round out our summer media trifecta, you don’t want to miss the barrage of newspaper coverage on the victory and CIW’s next steps. The excitement even made it’s way to the Sunday New York Times (5/22)! Read the entire article: “First They Took on Taco Bell. Now, the Fast-Food World.” Here’s an excerpt:
“They led a four-year boycott against the chain until it agreed in March to pay a penny more per pound for Florida tomatoes and to adopt a code of conduct that would allow Taco Bell to sever ties to suppliers who commit abuses against farmworkers. With that triumph, the farmworkers group is turning to a larger target: the rest of the fast-food industry. The coalition has sent lettersto executives at McDonald’s, Subway and Burger King asking them to follow Taco Bell’s lead.”
The story went out on the AP Wire and was carried by major media from MSNBC to The Detroit News, spurring a couple of excellent opinion pieces that build on the AP article. From the business pages of the Motley Fool, see “The Price of Peace” here; and from the San AntonioExpress-News, “Taco Bell Serves Up Social Vigilance” here. And finally, there’s an excellent article which appeared in the Orlando Sentinel entitled, “Group Champions Migrants”. Read the full report and see photos of the CIW’s own watermelon harvesting crew by clicking here.
NEW OP-ED IN THE NEW YORK TIMES BY THE MAN WHO WROTE THE BOOK ON THE FAST-FOOD INDUSTRY!… Check out the great Op/Ed by “Fast Food Nation” author Eric Schlosser in the New York Times! The piece strikes a very hopeful tone and ends on an intriguing note, concluding:
“McDonald’s seems an obvious target for the next boycott… The failure of government to protect the weakest and most impoverished workers in the United States has left the job to corporations and consumers. Taco Bell deserves credit for acknowledging its responsibility on this issue. Now McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and Yum’s other brands need to do the same.”Click here to read the whole article!
Stay tuned for more info in the coming weeks on the next steps in the campaign to make fast food into fair food!
FARMWORKERS CELEBRATE DECISIVE VICTORY FOR HUMAN RIGHTS!… FORMER PRESIDENT CARTER COMMENDS CIW’S “PRINCIPLED LEADERSHIP IN THIS VERY IMPORTANT CAMPAIGN…” See all the statements of support for this historic agreement below!
The four-year Taco Bell boycott is over! Click here for details on the precedent-setting accord.
Click here for photos and reports from Saturday’s day-long Victory Celebration & Rally (3/12).
And don’t miss the complete mulitmedia reports from the Truth Tour that turned out the lights on the Taco Bell boycott, including the boycott-ending press conference at Yum Brands (3/8) and the “Our World, Our Rights” Conference on Global Justice (3/11)! Click here for photos, video, audio, and more!
Boycott supporters are already gearing up for the next step in the campaign to make fast food fair food! Stay tuned for information on how you can play a role in the next few weeks. In the meantime, here’s the victory press round-up and some kind words from a few names you might recognize.
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| Washington Post (3/9): “Accord with tomato pickers ends boycott of Taco Bell” The Guardian of London (3/12): “Farmworkers win historic deal after boycotting Taco Bell” La Jornada (3/17): “Jornaleros ganan batalla a Taco Bell” The Nation (3/11): “Sweet victory: Yo quiero justice” Palm Beach Post (3/9): Democracy Now! (3/10): Palm Beach Post (3/9): “The pickers finally win” Louisville Courier- Journal (3/13): “Farmworkers celebrate accord” Common Dreams (3/18): “They Say Tomato, Students Say Justice” Mother Jones (3/22): “People Power: An Interview with David Solnit” Notre Dame Observer (3/23): “Celebrating Taco Bell boycott victory” Louisville Courier-Journal (3/13): “Chuch, student groups aided workers’ campaign” Louisville Courier-Journal (3/9): “Yum picks up Florida field workers” PR Week (3/9): “Labor group ends Taco Bell boycott” OC Weekly (3/18): “Now we have faith” Business Wire (3/8): “CIW, Taco Bell reach groundbreaking agreement” Tallahassee Democrat (3/9): Daily Texan (3/9): “Taco Bell boycott finally over” Daily Bruin (3/9): “Taco Bell accord reached”
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Nobel Peace Prize winner and former U.S. President Jimmy Carter: “I commend the Coalition of Immokalee Workers for their principled leadership in this very important campaign…” >> Read the full statement Lucas Benitez, Coalition of Immokalee Workers: “Human rights are universal, and if we as farmworkers are to one day indeed enjoy equal rights, the same rights all other workers in this country are guaranteed, this agreement must only be a beginning…” >> Read the full statement Tom Morello, Audioslave, formerly of Rage Against the Machine: “This is a major victory for the workers and demonstrates that by standing up and standing together, we can overturn any injustice. By standing up and standing together, we can change the world…” >> Read the full statement Congressman John Lewis (D-GA): “This is a great victory for the champions of social justice and equality in America and around the world…” >> Read the full statement Dennis J. Kucinich (D-OH), former presidental candidate: “So today we celebrate a tremendous victory of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the many farm workers who organized a very effective boycott of Taco Bell to draw attention to their plight. And it is an important start…” >> Read the full statement Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): “I call upon all members… to immediately cease boycotting Taco Bell and to join with the CIW and Yum Brands in advancing the gains for human rights made today throughout fast-food industry…” >> Read the full statement Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, Chairman of U.S. Bishops’ Domestic Policy Committee: “This is a great achievement for the Immokalee Workers who have turned their struggle for decent wages and human dignity into a national movement enlisting religious groups and colleges and universities across the country…” >> Read the full statement Todd Howland, Director, RFK Memorial Center for Human Rights: “Taco Bell has shown that companies can and should reach for a standard higher than their bottom line—that major corporations can be part of the solution to human right abuses instead of merely profiting off of the poverty of others…” >> Read the full statement Cathy Albisa, Executive Director, National Social and Economic Rights Initiative: “It is a serious victory, but we must also be cognizant that it is but a stepping-stone in the longer journey to creating human rights protections for all workers…” >> Read the full statement Gay McDougall, Executive Director, Global Rights: Partners for Justice: “This agreement proves the collective power of community members claiming their human rights and demanding accountability from those who have the duty to meet those rights…” >> Read the full statement Camilo Perez-Bustillo, Director of Human Migration & Mobility / Project Voice, American Friends Service Committee: “The successful settlement of the Taco Bell boycott is a key, long-awaited step in the right direction for Florida and for the country as a whole, and will help set the pace elsewhere for farmworker justice in the future…” >> Read the full statement |