[hupso title=”Add YOUR voice to the rising call for @Wendys to respect farmworkers’ rights! Sign the petition today!” url=”https://ciw-online.org/blog/2015/03/avaaz/“]

International online campaign giant Avaaz takes on Wendy’s CEO Emil Brolick, slamming fast food chain’s abandonment of Florida tomato industry…

With a fresh injection of energy and momentum from last weekend’s huge Concert and Parade for Fair Food, the Wendy’s campaign is taking off!  First, the Student/Farmworker Alliance announced a nationwide student boycott of the fast-food chain (more to come on that soon).  And now, Wendy’s is feeling pressure from a brand new online petition from Avaaz.org, the online social justice community with millions of members worldwide.  

Both of these exciting new developments come on the heels of the company’s indefensible decision to actually shift purchases away from the Florida tomato industry — called “the best working environment in American agriculture” in the New York Times thanks to the Fair Food Program and its unique model of Worker-driven Social Responsibility — to other winter tomato producers beyond the reach of the Fair Food Program’s protections.

So today we are putting out the urgent call to the whole Fair Food Nation to sign — and spread — this important new message for Wendy’s CEO Emil Brolick from Avaaz.org:

Wendy’s stands alone as the only major fast-food company that has refused to commit to the human rights advances of the Fair Food Program in its Florida tomato supply chain. What’s worse, Wendy’s has actually shifted its tomato purchases to other places beyond the reach of the FFP’s protections. We urge you to take a leadership role in bringing Wendy’s into the Fair Food Program, to pay a penny more for every pound of tomatoes picked, and commit to a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment, child labor, and modern-day slavery for Wendy’s Florida tomato suppliers.

The petition itself will not remain simply a digital collection, but will actually be hand-delivered to Mr. Brolick at the 2015 Wendy’s shareholders’ meeting in Dublin, Ohio.  As has been the case for the last two years, company executives and shareholders from across the nation will be joined at the annual meeting by farmworkers and their many consumer allies, calling on Wendy’s — both inside and outside the meeting — to follow the lead of all of their major competitors and join the Fair Food Program.  If you haven’t already, make sure to add your name to the list.

And if Fair Food supporters are good at anything, it’s getting the word out — so please join us in ensuring that this petition reaches all corners of the Internet!  Below are a few sample Tweets to get the ball rolling:

PLEASE SHARE: @Wendys CEO, Emil Brolick: Commit to farmworkers’ #humanrights in #Wendys supply chain!” bit.ly/wendys-avaaz

Add YOUR voice to the rising call for @Wendys to respect farmworkers’ rights! Sign the petition today! bit.ly/wendys-avaaz

NEW PETITION: Call on @Wendys CEO Emil Brolick to join the @FairFoodProgram! bit.ly/wendys-avaaz

Amidst the student-led boycott of the fast food chain, the rising tide of online pressure, and the flood of press after the Concert for Fair Food (stay tuned for a media round-up in the week ahead!),  Wendy’s is feeling heat from all sides.  And if the past is indeed prologue, Wendy’s can only expect the temperature to keep rising until they join the Fair Food Program!