As South Florida prepares for the November 30th March on Burger King headquarters in Miami, locally-based labor, faith, student, and community organizations are joining the fight for Fair Food. From Homestead to West Palm Beach, local groups are helping raise awareness in their communities (inviting CIW members, for example, to address classes, like the recent presentation pictured here at the University of Miami), and endorsing the Alliance for Fair Food!

Two weeks ago, Archbishop John Favalora of Miami wrote a public letter to Burger King CEO John Chidsey, urging Mr. Chidsey to work with the CIW to guarantee “justice and fairness for those who provide manual labor in the fields.” Read Archbishop Favalora’s letter in its entirety here.

Meanwhile, from the world of labor, the South Florida AFL-CIO and the Broward County AFL-CIO voted to formally endorse the Alliance for Fair Food. The CIW also received an extremely warm welcome at the Florida AFL-CIO state convention earlier this month, where CIW representatives were given an opportunity to address the convention and invite union members from across the state to join farmworkers in the march on BK headquarters this November.

And on the community front, Miami for Peace and the Broward Anti-war Coalition – whose members are veterans of many a South Florida Burger King protest already — also voted to endorse the Alliance for Fair Food.

Finally, check out the latest coverage of the Campaign for Fair Food, with two great articles in South Florida university papers — the University of Miami and Florida International University – and a nice piece of bloggery from the national AFL-CIO! Follow the links below to read the articles:

“Before taking the next bite out of your Whopper from the Burger King in Graham Center, you should gain a little background of where that food is coming from. No, I’m not talking about the treatment of the animals raised for the beef and chicken products. Burger King has already worked with PETA to improve the supply chain so that eggs and pork come from free-roaming animals only. Unfortunately, the humans who are involved in BK’s supply chain are not quite as lucky.” “Down with the King: Florida tomatoes tainted by harsh working conditions” (The Florida International University Beacon, 10/11)

“… Quinn and Walsh used the then-new Facebook to get the word out and soon enough STAND was up and running. It eventually became the student group at the forefront of the UNICCO workers’ campaign. The campaign was a year-long event and included strikes, marches and sit-ins before the workers reached their goal of receiving living wages and benefits. “The strike was one of the first times I felt that I had helped effect change,” Quinn said. “I was so proud of that strike. It taught me more than any class I ever took at UM.” Read more of “Student group revisits workers’ issues: STAND focuses on Immokalee labor” (The Miami Hurricane Online, 10/11)

“Across Florida and around the country, members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and the Student Farmworker Alliance (SFA) are hitting the streets for two months to mobilize workers and consumers to call on Burger King fast-food chain to improve farm workers’ wages and working conditions…” Read more of “Burger King: You can’t have it your way” (AFL-CIO Weblog, 10/15)