Farmworkers, Presbyterians Deliver Petitions with 85,000 Signatures to Burger King

Pile of signed petitions, creatively affixed to farmworkers clothing, tomato signs and posters. Photo by Brigitte Gynther

April 2008 – Presbyterian leaders joined farmworkers in delivering petitions with 85,000 signatures from all 50 states and 42 countries to Burger King headquarters in Miami on April 28 calling for an end to slavery and sweatshop conditions in Florida's fields. Petition signers pledged they are “prepared to boycott Burger King.”  That morning the Fort Myers News Press broke that Burger King vice president Steve Grover had used his middle-school daughter’s email address to blog and email unfounded and derogatory information about the CIW on Web sites.

While the CIW has not yet called for a boycott of Burger King, the petitions signaled consumers are prepared to boycott if the company does not work with the CIW to improve farmworkers wages and to create and enforce a human-rights based code of conduct. Read and sign the CIW Petition.

Members of the CIW carry an 8 story-long petition signed by over 4,000 farmworkers to BK headquarters. Photo by Brigitte Gynther.

"We want Burger King to come to the discussion table and enter into an agreement with the coalition," said Gerardo Reyes, a farmworker and member of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. "We are making the same demands we have made of the rest of the fast-food industry." 

The huge number of petition signatures, which included an eight-story-long petition with over 4,000 signatures from farmworkers in Immokalee, were gathered in only a few months, demonstrating to Burger King the broad and growing power of the Campaign for Fair Food. 

Left to Right, the Rev. Dr. Arlene Gordon, Rev. Kennedy McGowan holding a tomato-shaped petition with signatures from his congregation and Gerardo Reyes Chavez of CIW (in yellow shirt) at the press conference. Photo by Brigitte Gynther

The event began with music and a press conference at which the Rev. Dr. Arlene Gordon, executive presbyter of the Presbytery of Tropical Florida (where Burger King headquarters is located), and the Rev. Greg Bentley, president of the National Black Presbyterian Caucus, spoke about the significance of the petition and the stalwart support coming from Presbyterians across the country.

Underscoring that the U.S. Department of Justice is even now prosecuting the seventh case of modern-day slavery in the Florida fields, Bentley proclaimed, “What we are doing here today is nothing less than historic, and we are accountable not only to the farmworkers, but to our whole society and to the generations who will follow us for how we respond to this human rights crisis.”  [Read the Rev. Bentley’s speech. ]

The Rev. Miguel Estrada, pastor in Immokalee, delivers a folder of petitions. Photo by Brigitte Gynther

Following the press conference, Dr. Gordon and the Rev. Bentley were joined by Ms. Nelia Senti, treasurer of the National Hispanic/Latino Presbyterian Caucus, the Rev. German Vega, moderator of the South Chapter of the Hispanic Concilio, the Rev. Miguel Estrada, pastor of Mision Peniel in Immokalee, and the Rev. Kennedy McGowan, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Hollywood, Florida, in delivering signed petitions from Presbyterians across the country to the doorstep of Burger King. Signatures included those of the Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General Assembly, Ms. Linda Valentine, GAC executive director, the Rev. Dr. Tom Taylor, GAC deputy executive director for Mission, as well as former GA moderators Rick Ufford-Chase and the Rev. Susan Andrews.

The Rev. Greg Bentley, Ms. Nelia Senti and the Rev. German Vega prepare to deliver petitions. Photo by Brigitte Gynther

“It is my sincere hope that Burger King will heed the call of its customers and the farmworkers who make its business possible and use its considerable power together with the CIW to advance human rights for farmworkers without delay” urged Dr. Gordon.

For photos, a narrative account of the event and links to press coverage, visit the Coalition of Immokalee Workers Online Headquarters.