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Coalition of Immokalee Workers Calls for Boycott of Wendy’s
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<p>by Mary Baudouin</p>
<p>In 2003, the Jesuits of the New Orleans Province were approached by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a Florida-based farmworkers rights organization, to promote in our province ministries a nationwide boycott of Taco Bell restaurants. The goal of the boycott was to increase the amount that Taco Bell paid farmers for tomatoes by one penny per pound, which in turn could increase the rate pay for field laborers. This boycott, which was endorsed by more than 50 high schools and 300 college campuses, including Loyola University New Orleans, succeeded in cutting contracts or preventing new contracts with Taco Bell. In March 2005, Taco Bell signed a historic agreement to “work with CIW to improve working and pay conditions for farmworkers in the Florida tomato fields."</p>
<p>A year later, the New Orleans Province co-filed with other shareholders a resolution with the McDonald’s Corporation calling for the company to address wages and working conditions for farmworkers who pick most of the tomatoes served in McDonald's restaurants in the U.S. As a result of this resolution and many other public actions, McDonald's agreed to meet the CIW's demand that the company pay an additional penny per pound for the Florida tomatoes it purchased. </p>
<p>In the subsequent years the CIW has continued their campaign to pressure farmers and retail food companies to ensure humane wages and working conditions for farmworkers, primarily through their Fair Food Program, a human rights project that has been designed and enforced by the workers themselves. A Fair Food Standards Council has been established to provide third-party monitoring of both buyers and growers. Some of the buyers participating in the Fair Food Program are familiar – and big – names, including: Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Subway, Burger King, Whole Foods, Sodexo, Aramark, and of course Taco Bell and McDonald’s. The Fair Food Program has been called “the best workplace-monitoring program” in the US in the New York Times, and “one of the great human rights success stories of our day” in the Washington Post. </p>
<p><a href="https://t.e2ma.net/webview/rk0ok/0c07c0906e49820d6aaf1c1b6203bd3b">MORE>></a></p>
<p>In 2003, the Jesuits of the New Orleans Province were approached by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a Florida-based farmworkers rights organization, to promote in our province ministries a nationwide boycott of Taco Bell restaurants. The goal of the boycott was to increase the amount that Taco Bell paid farmers for tomatoes by one penny per pound, which in turn could increase the rate pay for field laborers. This boycott, which was endorsed by more than 50 high schools and 300 college campuses, including Loyola University New Orleans, succeeded in cutting contracts or preventing new contracts with Taco Bell. In March 2005, Taco Bell signed a historic agreement to “work with CIW to improve working and pay conditions for farmworkers in the Florida tomato fields."</p>
<p>A year later, the New Orleans Province co-filed with other shareholders a resolution with the McDonald’s Corporation calling for the company to address wages and working conditions for farmworkers who pick most of the tomatoes served in McDonald's restaurants in the U.S. As a result of this resolution and many other public actions, McDonald's agreed to meet the CIW's demand that the company pay an additional penny per pound for the Florida tomatoes it purchased. </p>
<p>In the subsequent years the CIW has continued their campaign to pressure farmers and retail food companies to ensure humane wages and working conditions for farmworkers, primarily through their Fair Food Program, a human rights project that has been designed and enforced by the workers themselves. A Fair Food Standards Council has been established to provide third-party monitoring of both buyers and growers. Some of the buyers participating in the Fair Food Program are familiar – and big – names, including: Walmart, Trader Joe’s, Subway, Burger King, Whole Foods, Sodexo, Aramark, and of course Taco Bell and McDonald’s. The Fair Food Program has been called “the best workplace-monitoring program” in the US in the New York Times, and “one of the great human rights success stories of our day” in the Washington Post. </p>
<p><a href="https://t.e2ma.net/webview/rk0ok/0c07c0906e49820d6aaf1c1b6203bd3b">MORE>></a></p>