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“‘As a major purchaser of food products, we have the opportunity, and responsibility, to influence the way animals are treated,’ YUM! Brands Animal Welfare Program.” Oh, now that makes sense. There was an article in the Louisville Courier-Journal the day before the YUM shareholders’ meeting that announced an agreement between PETA and KFC on new animal rights standards, saying, “People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals said yesterday that it has wrung more concessions from KFC about the treatment of poultry…” Good job — holding the fast-food giants accountable for the conditions in their supply chains is no easy work! But this wasn’t a PETA action, this was a CIW protest. Where are the farmworkers? |
In fact, it is that hypocrisy that led workers to drive almost 24 hours straight from Immokalee to Louisville, to join with student, religious, and labor allies in a protest outside of YUM’s annual meeting, and to dress up as farm animals, to call attention to YUM’s double standard! [And, for the record, despite winning some impressive concessions, PETA representatives were at the shareholders meeting as well, demanding still more humane treatment for animals in YUM’s supply chain, so that struggle is not yet over.] |
Well, when you put it that way… and you figure that all those conditions help growers keep their costs down and provide their corporate clients — like YUM’s brands — with artificially cheap produce… seems like the workers might just have a point. |
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Story in the Lexington Herald Leader |
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We can’t thank Mr. Kirkpatrick and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) enough for their steadfast support in this campaign. |
In an impressive showing, the resolution in support of the workers’ campaign garnered 39% of the shareholders’ votes (as of the latest counting, with some ballots still not in) — winning it an automatic place on next year’s ballot and letting YUM’s Board of Directors know that the real owners of Taco Bell and the rest of YUM’s brands think the idea of FAIR FOOD makes good business sense! Resolutions for social responsibility rarely get more than 2-3% of the vote, so the results in this case sent a truly powerful message to YUM’s Board of Directors. The visit to Louisville left the boycott stronger than ever. In the words of Morpheus from The Matrix Reloaded, “It’s not a question of hope, it’s only a question of time.” [The movie was disappointing, to say the least, but that line was good…] |