In its annual Labor Day statement, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) highlighted the CIW and the Campaign for Fair Food as a "Sign of Hope" in an otherwise difficult year for our nation’s workers, calling the CIW "an example of how courage, sacrifice, and a passion for justice can make a difference."

The statement went on to add, "In a small way, this is also a sign of hope for our Church that has supported and stood with these workers in their just cause and legitimate aspirations…"

You can find the bishops’ statement in its entirety at the USCCB website by clicking here.

Surely ruining that first cup of coffee for many a Burger King executive yesterday morning (9/5), the Palm Beach Post — one of Burger King’s local papers — published an editorial supporting the Campaign for Fair Food and calling on Burger King to follow its competitors’ lead in working with the CIW to improve wages and working conditions in Florida’s tomato fields. Here’s an excerpt:

"Burger King says it rejected the plan because of accounting problems that make it hard to confirm that the extra payments get to the workers. Because it buys tomatoes from middlemen suppliers and not the growers themselves, Burger King says, there’s no way to trace the money. Instead, Burger King has offered to stop doing business with suppliers that violate federal labor laws and abuse workers.

This is hardly a Whopper of a gesture. Customers would hope that Burger King already doesn’t do business with lawbreakers. The question is whether the company has a social conscience that is the equal of its competitors. If Taco Bell and McDonald’s can work with the pickers, why can’t Burger King?"

Read the editorial in its entirety here!