Category: The birth of Worker-driven Social Responsibility: January – December 2016

Northeast “Behind the Braids” Tour heads north to Providence, Boston!

Consumers across Northeast: “There’s nothing they can do to stop us.  We’re here under the rain, we’re building power, making noise, spreading a message...!"After wrapping up a powerful visit to New York -- which kicked off with a high-spirited march led by the ever-boisterous Lower East Side Girls Club and concluded with a stirring evening vigil outside the luxurious hedge fund offices of Wendy's Board Chairman, Nelson >> Read More

CIW honored with 2016 Leadership Award by James Beard Foundation at moving ceremony in NYC!

[caption id="attachment_24878" align="aligncenter" width="600"] The CIW's Lucas Benitez and Greg Asbed (third from right and far right, respectively) join their fellow Leadership Award honorees, from left, John Boyd Jr (President, National Black Farmers Association), Rep. Jim McGovern (Congressman, Massachusetts), Anna Lappe (Founder, Small Planet Institute), and Raj Patel (author, activist, academic). James Beard Foundation President Susan Ungaro (third from left) >> Read More

The “Behind the Braids” Northeast Tour takes New York by storm!

Last week, just as the Northeast Behind the Braids Tour was arriving in New York City, Wendy’s Public Relations department released the company's most direct response yet to the Campaign for Fair Food.  And yet somehow, with more than three years to come up with a plausible defense since the Wendy's campaign began in earnest in 2013, the recalcitrant hamburger giant still managed to swing and miss.... >> Read More
And you thought the presidential debates were maddening…

And you thought the presidential debates were maddening…

Wendy's issues statement on boycott after months of silence.  Silence was better. As we write this on Wednesday evening, the nation prepares (and by "prepares" we mean curls into the fetal position on the couch in front of the TV...) for the third and final presidential debate.   But if you are like us and happened to catch Wendy's new statement >> Read More

The Nation: “There’s a Nationwide Boycott of Wendy’s Underway…”

"For over a decade the small coalition of farmworkers and community activists have taken on the giants of Big Ag and built a new system of labor protection. Now they’re taking the fight to a Goliath in red pigtails..." Last week, as the Midwest and Southeast "Behind the Braids" Tours were wrapping up, attention turned to the next tour on the >> Read More

“Boot the Braids!” rings out across campuses throughout the Midwest and Southeast! 

First round of Wendy's Boycott tours wraps up with visits to four “Boot the Braids” campuses! Picking up where we left off in last week's "Behind the Braids" Tours report, we bring you the latest news from the campaign trail (Campaign for Fair Food, that is, also known as the only campaign news you can proudly share with young children these days...).  This >> Read More

New York Times Magazine, Civil Eats take on “Big Food” and the Food Movement…

“Then we found the unlocked door in the castle wall... It was the corporate brand.”As the Wendy's Boycott picks up steam across the country, the CIW and the Campaign for Fair Food took center stage in two timely articles this past week -- one from Michael Pollan in the New York Times Magazine and another from Elizabeth Grossman in Civil Eats -- asking key >> Read More

Friendly fire: Wendy’s shareholder takes fast-food giant to court for refusal to join Fair Food Program!

[caption id="attachment_24411" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Tens of thousands of consumers across the country have gotten on the boycott bus since the launch of the Wendy's boycott earlier this year, including this contingent from the Unitarian Universalists.[/caption] Pomerantz Law, a major player in the world of finance, files derivative action against the directors of Wendy's  for turning "a blind eye to human rights abuses >> Read More

TOUR REPORTS: Wendy’s Boycott on the rise across Southeast, Midwest…

"Justice is not bought, justice is not simply given, justice is won and defended!"It's official: the first leg of the "Behind the Braids" Tours hit the ground running in Georgia, Tennessee and Ohio this week, and today we wanted to bring you first-hand reports from the first wave of actions, presentations, film screenings, and gatherings of what will be two months of >> Read More

International labor law expert: “The Fair Food Program is substantially more successful than other corporate compliance programmes”…

New textbook on ethical labor standards for migrant workers devotes chapter to the CIW's Fair Food Program!International labor law expert Professor James Brudney calls Fair Food Program "remarkably successful model" that "offers distinctive lessons for labour relations in global corporate supply chains."In an exciting new volume of academic research (now available online) on the question of whether temporary migrant labor programs "can >> Read More