DearKITLACFriendsandCIWSupporters:
TheCIWneedsourhelplocally! ThisFriday,November30,thousandswilldescendonMiamiwhereBurgerKingstockholderswillmeet. TheCIWdemandswillbebroughttothemeetingasstockholderaction. SeveralKITLACmemberswillbeamongthemarchers.
Meanwhile,CIWhasinformedus(seeinformationbelow)thatBurgerKingisplayingmuchdirtierthanYumorMcDonaldsandisworkingdirectlywiththegrowerstothreatenalltheprogressmadebythefarmworkers.
Locally,insolidaritywithactionsinMiami,KITLAChasmailedtheattachedlettertoall21arealocationsofBurgerKing.
CouldyouaddpowertothisactionandpersonallydeliveracopyoftheattachedlettertoamanagerinaBurgerKingnearyou? Allyouneedtodoisprintouttheletter,lookatthealsoattachedlistofLouisvillelocations,gotherestaurant,askforthemanageronduty. Youdon'thavetosaymuch,justvoiceyoursupportforthefarmworkersandnotethatyouarepayingattention.
Thanksforyoursupportandparticipation. Pleaseletusknowifyoudeliveraletteranditslocation.
DavidHorvathandtheBoardofKITLAC
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LastweekitwasrevealedthatBurgerKinghasjoinedforceswiththemostconservativeelementsofthe
FloridatomatoindustrytolaunchanaggressiveassaultontheCIW'sgroundbreakingagreementswithfast-foodleadersYumBrandsandMcDonald's.Thisweek,editorialpagesacrossFloridahavetakennotice,andawaveofharshcriticismofthefast-foodgianthasfollowed.
Thelatestop/edtoexcoriateBurgerKingcameintoday'sPalmBeachPost,oneofBurgerKing'shometownpapers.CallingBurgerKing'swillingnesstoaccedetothegrowers'attackontheagreements,"anotherexampleoftheself-servingindifferencethathasfosteredabuseoffarmworkersfordecades,"theeditorialconcludes,"AtBurgerKing,consumersarebuyingintointimidationandthecontinuedexploitationofcheaplabor."
Youcanfindtheeditorialinitsentirety--andallthelatestnewsasweprepareforthisFriday'shistoricmarchonBKheadquarters--attheCIWwebsite,http://www.ciw-online.org
Wearealsoincludingitherebelow.Thanks,andseeyouinMiami-
CoalitionofImmokaleeWorkers
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"Pennyforbadthought"
PalmBeachPostEditorial
Wednesday,November28,2007
IttookyearsfortomatopickerstonegotiateadealwithTacoBellandMcDonald'sforhigherwages.Now,agrowersgroupwantstoreplacenegotiationwithintimidation.
TheFloridaTomatoGrowersExchangeisthreateningmemberswith$100,000finesiftheyparticipateinthewagedealswithpickers.TheCoalitionofImmokaleeWorkershasagreementswithMcDonald'sCorp.
andTacoBellparentcompanyYUMBrandsInc.topayapennymoreperpoundforFloridatomatoes,withsupplierspassingontheextracenttothefarmworkers.Pickerscanearnabout45centsper32-poundbucket.
Thegrowersexchangesaysthedealsmayviolateantitrustlawsbutwon'tsaywhyorhow.ExchangespokesmanReggieBrownsaysthatit's"un-American"tohavewagesinfluencedbyathirdparty,suchastheImmokaleecoalition.Mr.Brownsaystheexchangeisa"voluntary,privateenterprise"thatdoesn'thavetocommentonthe$100,000fines,butTheAssociatedPresshasthreesourceswhosaythethreatofpenaltiesisreal.
TheexchangehasanallyofconvenienceinBurgerKing,whichhasrefusedtojoinMcDonald'sandTacoBellinthepennydeal.BurgerKing'spositionisthatithasnobusinesstellinggrowerswhattopaytheirworkers-anotherexampleoftheself-servingindifferencethathasfosteredabuseoffarmworkersfordecades.Garmentmakerswhoreliedonchildlaborinoverseassweatshopsusedthesamedefense.
Mr.Brownmaintainsthatpickers"earnanaverageof$12.46perhour,morethandoublethefederalminimumwage"andbenefitfrom"freeorinexpensivegovernment-inspectedhousing."That$12.46perhourfigure,however,isbasedonasnapshottakenduringabusyweek,notayearlongpictureofintermittentworkandirregularhours.A2006surveybytheU.S.DepartmentofLaborputtheaveragepickers'annualearningsatbetween$10,000to$12,000,lessthanhalfwhatMr.Brown'snumbersimply.Workersreceivenoovertimepayorbenefits,andsafetyproblemswiththeirhousinghavebeenchronic.
ConsumerswhotaketheirbusinesstoTacoBellandMcDonald'sarecontributingtofairtreatmentofFlorida'sfarmworkers.AtBurgerKing,consumersarebuyingintointimidationandthecontinuedexploitationofcheaplabor.