CIW and Allies to Burger King: It’s Time for the King to Do the Right Thing!
Press conference at Burger King. Photo by Noelle Damico.
Feburary 15, 2007 – CIW and allies from the faith, human rights, student, labor and grassroots communities held a press conference outside of Burger King’s Miami-based headquarters declaring the inauguration of a “truth campaign” about farmworker exploitation in their supply chain. The Rev. Noelle Damico of the PC(USA)’s Campaign for Fair Food was among the religious leaders who spoke. She insisted that a proven model for advancing farmworker’s human rights is the agreement between Yum Brands and CIW. All that is missing is Burger King’s willingness.
Watch the You Tube video of the press conference
Read the Presbyterian News Service story
Read the AP story
Read the CIW’s press release
Burger King: We Won’t Pay A Penny More
February 2007 — In a surprise press announcement on February 5, 2007, Miami-based fast-food giant, Burger King, declared it would not pay a penny more a pound for its tomatoes and ensure that increase was passed onto the workers. The press release declared “Burger King Corporation and its purchasing agent, RSI, do not have a direct relationship with any tomato grower or its employees … As a result, we do not identify the specific growers, tomatoes or workers who pick the tomatoes that are used in our restaurants.”
The argument “we don’t know who these growers are” doesn’t corroborate with Burger King’s need to trace its tomatoes to its suppliers to meet federal health and safety standards and flies in the face of regular business practice within the fast-food industry.
Buying through intermediaries also doesn’t obviate Burger King’s responsibility for rectifying the downward pressure their large volume/low cost purchasing practices have had on farmworker wages. In short, if Yum! Brands can figure out a way to pay the penny more to workers, so can Burger King. It’s a matter of willingness.
Read Burger King’s press release
Read CIW’s response and analysis
|
