March 31, 2006
Contact:
Lucas Benitez, 239-503-0133
Julia Perkins, 239-986-0891
Melody Gonzalez, 239-986-0847
Chicago,
IL – On
Saturday, April 1, farmworkers and allies participating
in the 2006 McDonald’s Truth Tour will converge
on Chicago, leading a 5-mile march through the
city. The march will culminate in a rally downtown
at the McDonald’s flagship restaurant commonly
known as the “Rock ‘n’ Roll” McDonald’s.
The CIW will be joined in the march by Bishop Manz,
AFL-CIO Organizing Director Stewart Acuff, and
many national and local community, student, human
rights and faith leaders.
At the rally following the march, the CIW will
announce the next steps in the campaign to win
human rights and a fair wage for farmworkers in
Florida’s fields. Workers will launch an
aggressive public education campaign, exposing
the grinding poverty of Florida’s farmworkers
who pick tomatoes for the world’s largest
fast-food chain, McDonald’s, and Chipotle,
the quick service Mexican food restaurant company
that is also part of the McDonald’s group.
April 1st is the five-year anniversary of the
declaration of the Taco Bell boycott, which marked
the initial launch of the CIW’s Campaign
for Fair Food. In March of 2005 the CIW and Yum
Brands, parent company of Taco Bell, resolved the
4-year boycott with a ground-breaking agreement.
The historic agreement commits Yum Brands to pay
farmworkers an extra penny per pound for tomatoes
Taco Bell purchases, to work with the CIW on its
code of conduct so that farmworker participation
in the protection of their own rights is ensured
and to guarantee transparency in its tomato supply
chain.
Chipotle Mexican Grill, was, until recently a
wholly owned subsidiary of the McDonald’s
corporation. Following a public offering of the
company in January 2006, McDonald’s
now owns a controlling interest in Chipotle.
Unlike
McDonalds, however, Chipote
recognizes that its volume purchasing of vegetables
and meat place it in a unique position to influence
the conditions under which its ingredients are
produced and raised. The company’s manifesto,
entitled “Food With Integrity,” discusses
its mission to “revolutionize the way America
grows and gathers its food” by “working
back along the food chain” beyond distributors
to encourage healthy production of vegetables and
humane raising of animals by farmers supplying
Chipotle. But it says nothing about the conditions
under which farmworkers labor to harvest Chipotle’s
produce.
The CIW will be calling on Chipotle to expand
its own “Food With Integrity” mission
to include “Work With Dignity” for
farmworkers who harvest its tomatoes by partnering
with the CIW to ensure improved wages and the participation
of farmworkers in the protection and advancement
of their own rights. Further, CIW is calling on
Chipotle to influence the fast-food giant McDonald’s
to join Yum! Brands in working with the CIW for
these important human rights advances in the agri-food
industry.
The 45 farmworkers from Immokalee on the 2006 Truth
Tour bring with them over 3,500 cards signed by
Florida farmworkers asking McDonald’s, Chipotle,
and the rest of the fast food industry to pay more
for their tomatoes, and to ensure that this premium
be passed on to the farmworkers picking those tomatoes,
and to ensure worker participation in reforming
the labor practices of the agricultural industry.
The march, rally, and announcement of the Chipotle
initiative mark the culmination of the 2006 McDonald’s
Truth Tour: the Real Rights Tour. Before arriving
in Chicago the caravan stopped in 16 cities, conducted
over 12 protests at McDonald’s and Chipotle
Restaurants, and educational events in cities through
the south and Midwest including Nashville, Louisville,
St Louis, Madison, Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Detroit,
and South Bend.
Where & When: March
from Pilsen (Intersection of Blue Island, Loomis,
and 18th St) to the R‘n’R McDonald’s
(600 N Clark. St, Chicago). The March steps off
at 10:30am and will arrive at the Rock ‘n’ Roll
McDonald’s at 1:00pm. The march will then
travel to Holy Name Cathedral (735 N State Street)
for a closing rally and truth tour celebration.
For
background on workers’ wages, conditions,
the McDonald’s Truth Tour and the CIW-Yum!
Brands agreement, visit www.ciw-online.org
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