For Immediate Release:
Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Contact:
Marc Rodrigues, 239-292-3431
Melody Gonzalez, 239-986-0847

CIW, Burger King to work together after hard-fought campaign

Student and youth allies ready for next step in Campaign for Fair Food

IMMOKALEE, FL – Last Friday at the US Capitol, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and Burger King announced a landmark agreement to work together to improve the wages and working conditions of Florida farmworkers. After more than a year of escalating pressure by the CIW and its student and youth allies, Burger King has agreed to:

1. A net penny more per pound to workers harvesting tomatoes for Burger King, with financial incentives to encourage grower participation;
2. Join other fast-food industry leaders and the CIW in calling for an industry-wide net penny-per-pound surcharge to increase wages for all Florida tomato harvesters;
3. A stronger Vendor Code of Conduct establishing zero tolerance guidelines for certain unlawful activities that require immediate termination of any grower from Burger King's supply chain code of conduct and including the principle of worker participation.

John Chidsey, CEO of Burger King Corp., said, “We are pleased to now be working together with the CIW to further the common goal of improving Florida tomato farmworkers' wages, working conditions and lives... 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.”

Chidsey's comments – and Burger King's turnaround – come after a contentious campaign which saw Burger King hire a private security firm to spy on and infiltrate the Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA), a key ally of the CIW. In addition, a trail of disparaging online comments directed against the CIW and its supporters was also traced directly to a Burger King Vice President working out of the company's global headquarters in Miami.

Marc Rodrigues of the Student/Farmworker Alliance stated, “Burger King threw everything but the kitchen sink at us, from the espionage scandal to the campaign of online remarks from their VP referring to CIW supporters – us, essentially – as “dupes” and “fools.” But through it all, student and youth allies of the CIW across the US, organizing through SFA, stuck with the campaign, organizing countless nonviolent demonstrations and educational events until Burger King eventually came to the table to establish a partnership with the CIW. Other corporations that still profit from the misery of Florida farmworkers – be they Chipotle or Whole Foods with their claims to “responsibility” and “sustainability,” or be they Subway and Wal-Mart whose sheer tomato purchasing volumes are unmatched -- should take notice. Social responsibility in the food industry is, as the CIW declared at the signing of the agreement with Burger King last Friday, 'inevitable.'”

“This is momentous victory for human rights and dignity in Florida's fields. Together with farmworkers, we have brought one of the most powerful corporations in the world to the table and moved them to take concrete steps to address human rights abuses in its supply chain,” said Melody Gonzalez of the Student/Farmworker Alliance. Gonzalez continued, “This victory demonstrates once again the effectiveness and clout of the alliance between Florida's farmworkers and students and youth throughout the U.S. Now we must re-double our efforts as we press for even deeper changes in the food industry, calling upon Subway, Wal-Mart, Chipotle, Whole Foods, and others to follow the lead of Burger King, McDonald's, and Yum Brands.”

BACKGROUND

Florida tomato pickers are paid an average of 45 cents per 32-lb bucket of tomatoes they pick. At this rate, a farmworker must pick two tons of tomatoes to make just $50. Farmworkers regularly work 10-12 hour days with no overtime pay, no health insurance, no right to organize, no sick days and no benefits whatsoever. The CIW is a community organization based in southwest Florida that has been nationally and internationally recognized for its leadership in human rights, including uncovering and assisting in the successful prosecution of six farmworker slavery rings since 1997. The CIW has reached similar agreements to improve wages and working conditions for Florida farmworkers with Yum Brands (parent company of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and others) in 2005 and with McDonald's in 2007.

SFA is a national network of youth and students organizing in alliance with farmworkers to eliminate sweatshop conditions and modern-day slavery in the fields. SFA is a founding member of the Alliance for Fair Food, a network of human rights, religious, student, labor, and grassroots organizations promoting principles and practices of socially responsible purchasing in the corporate food industry that advance and ensure the human rights of farmworkers at the bottom of corporate supply chains.

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