National Petition to End Sweatshops and Slavery in the Fields : Miami IMC

Farmworkers are among the poorest workers in the United States, and have very few labor protections. Most workers earn sub-poverty wages and do not have the legal rights to overtime pay, to organize, or to bargain collectively. in the most extreme conditions, workers are forced to work under conditions of modern-day slavery, receiving little or no pay through violence & threats of violence.

Corporations like Burger King, Subway, Chipotle & Wal-Mart directly contribute to farmworker exploitation through their high-volume purchasing practices, leveraging their purchasing power to demand cheap produce, which in turn drives down wages for farmworkers as growers protect their own profits by passing their costs to their labor force.

The petition not only calls on Burger King & other food industry leaders to join McDonald's & Yum Brands (parent company of Taco Bell) in addressing human rights abuses in the fields where their tomatoes are picked, but will serve as notice that the petitioners are "prepared to stop patronizing Burger King now, and other food industry leaders in the future, should they fail to do so."

To read & sign the petition, visit http://www.fairfoodnation.org/petition

To learn more about how to bring the petition campaign to your own community & what others have been doing to collect signatures, visit http://www.ciw-online.org/2008_Petitions

http://www.fairfoodnation.org/petition

The nationwide Petition Campaign to End Slavery and Sweatshops in the Fields isn't just about Burger King.

(click here now to sign the petition if you haven't already:
http://fairfoodnation.mayfirst.org/petition)

As the petition website puts it, the petition "will serve as notice that those who sign are 'prepared to stop patronizing Burger King now, and other food industry leaders in the future, should they fail to'"comply with the petition's demands.

This past week, another food industry leader, Denver-based burrito giant Chipotle, learned that it can't hide behind Burger King. Chipotle sells its tomato-laden burritos as "Food with Integrity" yet, for years now, has refused to work with the CIW to improve farm labor conditions in the fields where its tomatoes are picked -- just like Burger King and other fast-food leaders who make no special claim to "integrity."

Last week, Denver Fair Food organized a march on Chipotle headquarters of nearly 100 people, bringing together students and youth, religious, labor, and human rights activists from across the region. Here below is their message reporting on the action, including links to exclusive photo reports and all the press from the event.

Be sure to check out the Denver Fair Food activists' creative and exciting action, and don't miss any of the very latest news from the fast-developing petition campaign (at http://www.ciw-online.org)!
Thanks - Coalition of Immokalee Workers
____________ _________ _________ _________ _____

On Wednesday, April 2nd nearly 100 people from in and around Denver came out to show their solidarity with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (and brought with them over 1,000 postcards to Chipotle signed by individuals who couldn't make it but nonetheless wanted to tell Chipotle that they support farmworker rights) in a powerful rally and march on Chipotle headquarters.

Read an insightful report from the action on the Student/Farmworker
Alliance website: http://www.sfalliance.org/chiphq.html

See more pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21412078@N05
If you have pictures from the action, let us know!

There was also lots of media coverage of the event including stories in:

-La Voz Nueva (http://www.lavozcolorado.com/news.php?nid=2446)

-Green Party Senate candidate Bob Kinsey's blog
(http://www.kinseyforsenate.org/?q=node/69)

-the Denver Post (http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_8788508)

-Fox 31
(http://www.myfoxcolorado.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail? contentId=6201775&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode =TSTY&pageId=3.2.1)

-Rocky Mountain News
(http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/apr/02/labor-group-protests-outside-chipotles-headquarter/)

-and also 9 News in Denver, KDRO in Colorado Springs, Arizona Central and even the Macon Telegraph in Macon, GA! Along with many others. Let us know if you've seen or heard other coverage.

Stay tuned for the next upcoming Denver Fair Food Committee meeting and mark your calendars now for what will surely be another exciting action outside of Chipotle's annual shareholders meeting on the morning of May 21st!