[Marxism] First Taco Bell, & now McDonalds: Coalition of Immokalee Workers wins again. Burger King next!

[Greg McDonald <sabocat59@xxxxxxx>]

SWU Coalition Partner Wins Farmworker Agreement With McDonald's
Submitted by SWU on Mon, 04/09/2007 - 7:14pm.
The Starbucks Workers Union is a proud member of the Alliance for  
Fair Food, a network of human rights, religious, student, labor, and  
grassroots organizations, who work in partnership with the Coalition  
of Immokalee Workers (CIW). The SWU and Justice from Bean to Cup!  
have been privileged to receive solidarity from the CIW and the  
Student Farmworker Alliance.  Stay tuned for the struggle against  
Burger King.  Congratulations to our dear friends:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 9, 2007

Contacts:
Lucas Benitez
Coalition of Immokalee Workers
(239) 503-0133 or (239) 986-2364

William Whitman
McDonald’s USA
(630) 623-6745

McDONALD’S USA AND ITS PRODUCE SUPPLIERS TO WORK WITH THE COALITION  
OF IMMOKALEE WORKERS

ATLANTA – The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), and McDonald’s  
USA, working with McDonald’s produce suppliers, today announced plans  
to work together to address wages and working conditions for the  
farmworkers who pick Florida tomatoes.

Beginning in the 2007 growing season, McDonald’s USA, through its  
produce suppliers, will pay an additional penny per pound for Florida  
tomatoes supplied to its U.S. restaurants. The increase will be paid  
directly to farmworkers harvesting tomatoes purchased by McDonald’s.

The CIW and McDonald’s produce suppliers will work together to  
develop a new code of conduct for Florida tomato growers as well as  
increase farmworker participation in monitoring supplier compliance.  
Farmworkers will also participate in investigating worker complaints  
and dispute resolution. Additionally, the CIW and McDonald’s produce  
suppliers will work together toward developing and implementing a  
credible third-party verification system.

“I welcome McDonald’s commitment to work with the Coalition of  
Immokalee Workers to improve the lives of the workers who supply  
their 13,000 U.S. restaurants with tomatoes,” said former United  
States President and founder of the Carter Center, Jimmy Carter.  
“This is a clear and welcome example of positive industry  
partnership. It demonstrates also McDonald’s leadership in social  
responsibility and CIW’s importance as a voice for farmworker rights.  
I encourage others to now follow the lead of McDonald’s and Taco Bell  
to achieve the much needed change throughout the entire Florida-based  
tomato industry.” Representatives from the Carter Center, based in  
Atlanta, helped facilitate the agreement with the Coalition and  
McDonald’s.

“Two years ago, our agreement with Yum Brands marked the first step  
toward a distant dream of ensuring human rights for workers in  
Florida’s fields,” said Lucas Benitez of the Coalition of Immokalee  
Workers. “Today, with McDonald’s, we have taken another major step  
toward a world where we as farmworkers can enjoy a fair wage and  
humane working conditions in exchange for the hard and essential work  
we do every day. We are not there yet, but we are getting there, and  
today’s agreement should send a strong message to the rest of the  
restaurant and supermarket industry that it is now time to stand  
behind the food they sell from the field to the table.”

“We have always respected the CIW’s commitment to enhancing  
conditions for the workers,” said J.C. Gonzalez-Mendez, Senior Vice  
President, Supply Chain Management, McDonald’s USA. “We’ve made  
progress with our suppliers through our existing Florida tomato  
grower standards, which hold the growers accountable to standards  
higher than the industry, but that was only the beginning. We believe  
more needs to be done. McDonald’s produce suppliers are required to  
purchase tomatoes only from those growers that have adopted our  
standards.”

To foster further improvements throughout the tomato industry, the  
CIW and McDonald’s produce suppliers, with McDonald’s support, will  
also work together toward the development of a third-party mechanism  
that would carry out similar monitoring and investigative functions  
at the industry level. The third-party mechanism will be developed in  
such a way as to be expandable to include the participation of other  
willing members of the foodservice and retail food industry that buy  
Florida tomatoes.

CIW has ended its two-year campaign against McDonald’s and pledged to  
work with the company and its suppliers to drive systemic and  
sustainable changes in the Florida tomato industry.
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