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The early returns are in, and it’s looking like the forces of Fair Food are headed toward a landslide victory in the Wendy’s Founder’s Week of Action!
The week of protests — calling on Wendy’s to truly honor founder Dave Thomas’ values and join the rest of the fast-food industry in supporting the Fair Food Program — got off to a very promising start this week with high energy actions in Denver, Philadelphia, and Orlando. Here below is a quick report from the first actions, including photos, press, and video from the streets!
Philadelphia:
The City of Brotherly Love was the first to kick off the action (with the first of four protests planned in Philly spanning the entire week, actually!), and they did not disappoint. Check out this excellent video by Philly Fair Food, and click here for a Facebook photo album from the protest:
Denver:
The Mile High City was not to be outdone, as Denver Fair Food linked up with students at Regis University for a colorful march and protest at a local Wendy’s restaurant. Univision covered the action with the great Spanish-language video here below:
Orlando:
The Youth and Young Adult Network of the National Farm Worker Ministry (YAYA) always brings the energy to protests in Orlando, and they joined forces for the Wendy’s Founder’s Week of Action with Fair Food activists from the First Unitarian Church of Orlando and a delegation of workers from Immokalee for a rousing action, starting with “a powerful Publix picket followed by a raucous Pigtail Wendy’s March”. Here are two pics from the two-fer protest:
First Publix:
And then Wendys:
The West Orlando News was there and posted this report:
Students, farm workers and members of the faith community rallied for several hours outside the newly opened Publix located on Woodbury and Colonial then marched to the Wendy’s at 1734 E. Colonial Drive, calling on both food companies to do the right thing.
The FPP is a groundbreaking social responsibility program that ensures a humane workplace environment and increased pay for over 30,000 Florida farm workers. The Program has won the acclaim of human rights observers like the United Nations and also from the White House.
Of the five largest fast food corporations in the country — McDonald’s, Subway, Burger King, Taco Bell (Yum! Brands) and Wendy’s — Wendy’s is the only one not participating in the Fair Food Program.
The action is just getting started in the Wendy’s Founder’s Week of Action. Click here for a full schedule of events, and check back soon for more reports from the front as Ohio (where Ohio Fair Food has been busy with the artwork, below, in preparation for the big action!), DC, New York, Providence, the Bay Area, and more hit the streets to demand an end to “Old Fashioned Exploitation”!
Today’s final word: Inequality…
We close today’s update with a quick image for reflection on one of Dave Thomas’s founding values brought to you by the Student/Farmworker Alliance. As part of the Wendy’s Founder’s Week of Action, the SFA will be taking one of the values identified with Wendy’s Founder Dave Thomas and putting it to the Fair Food test, to see if it holds up against the reality of Wendy’s stance on the human rights in Florida’s tomato fields. Enjoy (and don’t forget to join the conversation on Twitter using the hashtags #FairFoodFaker and #FoundersWeekofAction!):
