November 30, 2005
Statement on McDonald’s
and Social Responsibility
The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar, General Secretary
National Council of Churches USA
Every so often there comes a moment that holds out the
promise of making the world a significantly better place,
if only we take action. Today the McDonald’s corporation
is presented with one of those moments--an opportunity
to help transform the agri-food industry in ways that
are fairer and more just. The question is, Will it seize
this moment or will it retreat and protect the status
quo?
In March of 2005, Yum! Brands, the parent company of
Taco Bell, achieved an historic agreement with the Coalition
of Immokalee Workers (CIW) that nearly doubled the wages
of tomato pickers harvesting for Taco Bell and ensured
them safe working conditions. The National Council of
Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (NCC) was proud to
work side by side with the CIW to bring about this momentous
accomplishment and commends Yum! Brands for its leadership
in the fast food industry. But we knew then that this
was only the first step in changing the exploitative
conditions under which farmworkers labor.
In June of 2005 the NCC wrote a letter to McDonald’s
urging it to follow Taco Bell’s lead and work
with the CIW to implement within its own supply chain
the principles of social responsibility established
in the Yum! agreement.
Now McDonald’s has announced it will be partnering
with a newly minted, grower-dominated initiative called
SAFE (Socially Accountable Farm Employers) rather than
working with the CIW, a human rights award-winning farmworker
organization that is internationally recognized for
its groundbreaking work on labor issues. Instead of
throwing its substantial weight behind the proven model
of the Yum! Brands agreement that is already benefiting
workers, McDonald’s has chosen to lift up SAFE’s
anemic code of conduct, which was designed by growers
without worker input and does not address stagnant poverty
wages.
The SAFE organization was established in early November
by the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association –
apparently with substantial help from a public relations
firm that counts McDonald’s among its important
clients. While SAFE’s code employs sweeping language
about “no forced labor” and “social
accountability,” it only asks growers to obey
current laws. Why should growers need an organization
to do what is already legally required of them?
SAFE’s own website reveals the limitations built
into the heart of this new so-called "independent"
organization. The website indicates that the body intended
to represent independent worker voices is a child-care
agency--the Redlands Christian Migrant Association (RCMA)--that
receives regular and generous donations from the growers
association.
McDonald’s, we at the National Council of Churches
expect you to do better. You have acquired a strong
reputation for social accountability. Now we expect
you to build on that reputation to accomplish real change
in partnership with the farmworkers who are so sorely
abused by the current system. Now is the time for McDonald’s
to become a partner with the Coalition of Immokalee
Workers in transforming those aspects of the agricultural
and fast food industries that have exploited farmworkers
for corporate profit. As a corporation that benefits
in the form of low-cost tomatoes from the current system,
you have a pressing moral responsibility to act now.
I call upon you to take immediate steps to work with
the CIW to address poverty wages and exploitative working
conditions in McDonald’s own supply chain. Do
not delay. Choose today to help advance human rights
by working with the farmworkers whose vision for justice
is even now bearing its first fruits in the fields.
END