Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA) is a national network of students and youth organizing with farmworkers to eliminate sweatshop conditions and modern-day slavery in the fields. We work in alliance with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a membership-led organization of mostly Latino, Haitian, and Mayan Indian low-wage workers based in Southwest Florida. Together we won the four-year Taco Bell Boycott in 2005, McDonald's campaign in 2007 and Burger King campaign in 2008. SFA is a founding member of the Alliance for Fair Food. Support the Movement for Fair Food! Fall internship opportunities! click here for info |
Burger King, under growing pressure, agrees to partner with CIW to improve farmworker wages and working conditions
Update: May 28, 2008 - Don't miss the exclusive photo report from the historic press conference & signing ceremony + SFA press release and BK campaign highlights here. May 23, 2008 - Today on Capitol Hill, the CIW and Burger King announced a landmark agreement to work together to improve the wages and working conditions of Florida tomato pickers. After a year of escalating pressure by the CIW and its allies, Burger King has agreed to:
In a complete about-face from previous statements and the recent controversy that embroiled the company, Burger King has finally acknowledged the reality of farmworker poverty, exploitation and human rights abuses, leaving the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange completely isolated in its bullheaded denial of this reality and defense of the status quo. In the words of BK CEO John Chidsey, "The CIW has been at the forefront of efforts to improve farm labor conditions, exposing abuses and driving socially responsible purchasing and work practices in the Florida tomato fields. We apologize for any negative statements about the CIW or its motives previously attributed to BKC or its employees and now realize that those statements were wrong." As in the Taco Bell and McDonald's victories, student and youth organizing was decisive in this victory - from the "kingdoom" days of action to the March on BK Headquarters to the National Petition Drive - with BK stooping to new lows to combat that organizing.
And we renew our calls to Chipotle and Whole Foods to live up to their own proclaimed visions of "integrity" and "sustainability" by also taking the necessary steps to put an end, once and for all, to the human rights crisis in our nation's fields. Following this victory, we look forward to the quickly-approaching 2008 Student/Farmworker Alliance Encuentro, set to take place in Immokalee September 18-21, where dozens of fair food activists from across the US will gather for an intense weekend of skill-building and strategizing around the campaign. Click here today for more information and to apply to attend the Encuentro! From the McDonald's victory celebration in downtown Chicago just over one year ago, to the campuses and streets of Miami, New York, Lawrence, the Rio Grande Valley, Los Angeles, Seattle, DC, and points in between, one cry repeated millions of times by thousands of voices finally rings true more than ever today: "¡ya cayó! ¡ya cayó! ¡el rey ya cayó!" And as the CIW declared at today's press conference at the Capitol, "to all of you who have marched with us, organized petition drives with us, prayed with us, and struggled with us, today is a day to celebrate this hard-fought victory. Tomorrow, with renewed energy and purpose, we begin our work again to make respect for fundamental human rights in Florida's tomato fields truly universal." Stay tuned for more information and news on this developing victory and for more on where we go from here, including a possible upcoming ride on the Subway... |
PO Box 603, Immokalee, FL 34143 :: (239) 657-8311 :: organize (at) sfalliance.org
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