Protestors March On Burger King’s Headquarters
Johanna Estrella, Staff Reporter
Johanna_Estrella@csumb.edu
April 7, 2008
In California, 36 Burger King resturants were protested and boycotted on March 31, the day national action against Burger King was launched. “We do not want slavery whoppers,” expressed David Partida, Community Studies junior and Union Assembly Organizing Director at University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC) when asked about his motivations for protesting against Burger King on behalf of the Immokalee workers that pick tomatoes in southern Florida.
Partida was one of the 8 to 9,000 students and supporters from the country that marched 9.5 miles to Burger King headquarters in Miami, Florida on Nov. 30 2007. The fast food chain is being asked by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to refrain from purchasing tomatoes from Florida until employers agree to meet better conditions and wages for its farm workers.
Initially, the CIW asked their employers for these demands but focused on the company’s’ buyers when they refused, since companies generally try to meet their customers’ demands. This is not the first time a national boycott has been declared on a fast food chain.
In 2001 the “Boot the Bell” was launched asking Taco Bell to take responsibility for the salaries and treatment that farm workers were enduring. The boycott ended in 2005 when Yum Brands, owners of Taco Bell and many other fast food resturants such as Kentucky Fried Chicken, Long John Silvers, and A&W, finally agreed to CIW demands. In 2006, McDonald’s was asked to do the same as Taco Bell, and another boycott lasted until 2007 when McDonald’s agreed.
Melody Gonzales, a University of Notre Dame alumni and southern California native who lives and works in Immokalee with the CIW, the Student Farm worker Alliance (SFA), and Interfaith Action of southwest Florida, has been there for three years.
Gonzales stated that no official boycotts have yet to be announced, but is petitioning a campaign against Burger King if it does not agree to CIW’s demands. The petition is a threat to boycott that focuses mainly on Burger King, but mentions other and all companies that buy tomatoes from Florida.
Normal working conditions in Immokalee include sub-poverty wages, 45 cents per 32 lbs of tomatoes picked, or $10,00-12,000 annual gross per year making Immokalee workers one of the lowest paid farm workers in the country. They have no wages from the grower and are only paid for the tomatoes they pick.
In extreme circumstances, workers have reported violence, death threats, work against their will, and punishment for attempting to switch jobs or leave Immokalee by their employers. There are seven slavery cases that have been prosecuted through federal court, the most recent case occurred in November 2007. All seven cases were violations of the 13th Amendment which abolishes slavery.
Gonzales shared that “everyone should care when slavery occurs within their country or anywhere in the world.” She expressed, that all people have a responsibility when they are patrons to the industries that allow such treatment.
Indeed, 90 percent of the nation’s tomatoes come from Florida during the winter. Some groups that have signed the CIW’s petition include the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS), Interfaith Action, el Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan (Mecha) and churches and religious groups along with international support. Communities have started creative signature, such as video petitions, t-shirt and banner signing.
On April 28 2008, CIW will take all collected signatures from all over the country to Burger King headquarters once more. Edgar Diaz, religious studies junior at Yale University volunteered in Immokalee with the CIW over his spring break. Diaz also helped organize along with Partida a demonstration at Subway headquarters on Jan. 18 2007 in Milford, CT. “Americans think that slavery doesn’t exist in the United States, but in Florida they would see how unjust that this is still happening.” said Diaz.
Partida and Gonzales express how students especially are a main focus of advertisement for the fast food industry which is why it is important for students everywhere to participate in actions such as these. During the Taco Bell boycott, 22 universities across the country cut or prevented contracts with Taco Bell including New York University (NYU), University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of Chicago.
Partida expressed how Immokalee hits home for many students at UCSC and CSU Monterey Bay (CSUMB) since some students have parents working in the Central Valley, and according to Partida “showing solidarity with CIW is recognizing some of the struggles of their families.”