CIW, Florida allies kick off “Month of Outrage” in Naples!

Wendys_Boycott_Month_Outrage_3

“We invite all the people who believe in justice to join this month of action against Wendy’s…” 

Yesterday, four vans of farmworkers and their families, along with many longtime local allies, were greeted by a beautiful spring day in Naples, Florida, to launch the Month of Outrage in the Wendy’s Boycott!  Although allies and CIW members alike carried the characteristic buoyant Fair Food spirit throughout the hour-long picket — with the joyful reuniting of members of the Workers’ Voice Tour and the greeting of old friends from Immokalee’s neighboring Naples — the protesters’ sentiments toward Wendy’s had a distinctly frustrated edge.

Students from FGCU joined dozens of farmworkers at yesterday's protest
Students from FGCU joined dozens of farmworkers at yesterday’s protest.

For the first of what promises to be many such moments for the fast food giant this coming month, Wendy’s was faced with consumers and farmworkers demanding an answer for the company’s unconscionable decision not only to reject the Fair Food Program, but to shift their tomato purchases to Mexico… and not just to Mexico, but, as revealed in an excellent investigative piece from Harper’s Magazine just last month, to produce giant Bioparques, the infamous grower where the Mexican army was called in to rescue hundreds of farmworkers being held in brutal forced labor conditions just over two years ago.

The news of the Wendy’s boycott drew not just allies but also press (in keeping with the boycott’s impressive track record of media attention since being launched just weeks ago  — if you missed it, make sure to check out the media round-up from the Workers’ Voice Tour).  Yesterday, protesters were joined by the Naples Fox 4 station along much-trafficked Highway 41 to cover the story:

This, of course, is only the beginning of the Month of Outrage.  Plans for call-ins, protests, and boycott pledges are streaming in for this month (CIW’s Florida weekends are already packed) and you can join us!  Get started by helping us share this call to action from yesterday’s slice of the Fair Food Nation far and wide: