Scandal Grows: Burger King Under Pressure
CIW supporters march to BK headquarters, November 2007, Photo by Scott Robertson. May 2006 – In “Burger with a Side of Spies,” Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser exposed that Burger King hired a private security firm to spy on the Student/Farmworker Alliance, and CEO John Chidsey knew about it. This revelation came on the heels of the press tracing anonymous online posts, which questioned the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) integrity and attacked the organization, to Burger King’s Vice President Steve Grover.
Just days after Schlosser’s New York Times piece, The Nation reported that Burger King CEO John Chidsey made public statements at Davidson College this past October that are similar to false comments made by Steve Grover publicly and in his anonymous online posts. The authors mention that two weeks prior to John Chidsey’s Davidson address, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Carter Center and Yum! Brands had called on Burger King to retract false statements made about the CIW. The company never retracted those statements.
Now Burger King has announced that, following an “internal investigation,” it has fired two employees and discontinued the use of the private security firm, Diplomatic Tactical Services, this according to a May 14 article in the Associated Press. The company’s statement quoted Chidsey as saying, "I was distressed to learn of the allegations. Neither I nor any of my senior management team were aware of or condone the unauthorized activities in question.”
The CIW released a statement on May 13 saying, “The steps announced today by Burger King are welcome and necessary, but there remains a great deal more to be done to clear the path toward a sincere partnership for more humane conditions in Burger King’s tomato supply chain. Having said that, we, like Burger King, hope that these are the first steps towards the concrete change that our community has been denied for so long.”
For full press coverage visit the Coalition of Immokalee Workers Online Headquarters.
Read the Presbyterian News Service article by Evan Silverstein, May 6, 2008, Presbyterians and farmworkers deliver petitions to Burger King: Signatories demand burger chain improve conditions for Florida tomato pickers; online posts vilifying farmworker group traced to BK executive
Download the Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick’s letter to Burger King calling for retraction of false claims.  |
