08897
December 3, 2008
Immokalee workers reach agreement with Subway
Four largest food chains have now agreed to better pay, working conditions
MIAMI — Subway, the third largest fast-food chain in the world and the biggest fast-food buyer of Florida tomatoes, reached an agreement yesterday (Dec. 2) today with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-backed Coalition of Immokalee Workers to help improve wages and working conditions for the workers who pick the sandwich shop giant’s tomatoes.
“Today, the fast-food industry has spoken with one voice," said Gerardo Reyes of the CIW. “With this agreement, the four largest restaurant companies in the world have now joined their voices to the growing call for a more modern, more humane agricultural industry in Florida."
Gerardo Reyes (seated, right) of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Jan Risi (also seated), president and CEO of Subway's Miami-based purchasing arm, the Independent Purchasing Cooperative, commemorate the signing of the CIW's newest agreement with a fast-food industry leader to improve wages and working conditions in Florida's tomato fields. Photo courtesy of CIW
The agreement with Subway follows on the heels of similar wage and working condition agreements with Yum! Brands — the parent of Taco Bell — as well as Burger King, McDonald’s and Whole Foods grocery stores.
Despite the timing of the agreement — which was signed here as CIW members and supporters began a highly-publicized trek from Florida along the Eastern seaboard to New England to press their case at Subway headquarters in Milford, CT — Subway spokesman Les Winograd said, “Subway strongly supports the farmworkers’ rights and has entered in an agreement with the (Coalition of Immokalee Workers) to pay the additional 1 cent per pound for tomatoes grown in the Immokalee region of Florida.”
Vermont U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders issued a statement saying, “The agreement between Subway and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers is yet another blow to the scourge of slavery that continues to exist in the tomato fields of Florida. Subway is to be congratulated for moving to ensure that none of its products are harvested by slave or near-slave labor. Sadly, too many other companies continue to tolerate this travesty.”
Support for the CIW is part of the PC(USA)’s “Campaign for Fair Food,” which addresses justice issues in all phases of the world’s food production and distribution systems. “'Fair food'” could become an industry watchword, said Sherri Daye Scott, editor of QSR, a North Carolina-based food service industry magazine.
“I haven't heard any rumblings yet beyond the tomato pickers,” Scott said, “but it could gain traction. Look at food safety — five, 10 years ago, you didn’t hear much about it. Now it's everywhere. The same thing could happen with transparency in the food supply chain.”
CIW has announced that its Northeast Fair Food Tour, which was scheduled to conclude in Milford, will continue as a purely educational tour and will not include a stop in Milford.
“Now that Subway, the largest fast-food buyer of Florida tomatoes, has joined Yum!, McDonald's, Burger King, and Whole Foods Market in working with the CIW,” the farmworkers group said on its Web site, “it’s time for the rest of the grocery and fast-food corporations to join their counterparts and partner with the CIW to elevate human rights for farmworkers in their own supply chains.”
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