Contact: Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Lucas Benitez (239) 503-0133
Julia Perkins (239) 986-0891
Melody Gonzalez (239) 986-0487
What: Farmworkers from the Coalition of Immokalee
Workers (CIW) and their allies will travel by caravan
from Immokalee, FL, home of one of the largest
farmworker communities in the country, to Chicago,
IL, home of the world’s largest restaurant
chain, McDonald’s.
Where: The caravan will stop in 17-cities including
Nashville 3/27, Louisville 3/27, St. Louis 3/28,
Madison 3/29, Milwaukee 3/30, Indianapolis 3/28,
Cincinnati 3/28, Detroit 3/28, Ann Arbor 3/29,
and South Bend 3/30. Delegation to McDonald’s
headquarters 3/31. Major march and rally in Chicago,
IL 4/1
When: March 26 – March 30: 17-city, three-leg
tour through the midwest
March 31 – April 2: Actions in Chicago, IL
and surrounding area
Why: The caravan will be calling on the fast-food
giant McDonald’s to work with the CIW and
help establish real labor rights for the workers
who pick tomatoes for McDonald’s suppliers.
Specifically, workers and their allies will be
calling for:
- The right to a fair wage, after more
than 25 years of sub-poverty wages and stagnant
piece rates;
- The right for farmworkers to participate
in the decisions that affect their lives, after
decades of
sweatshop conditions and humiliating labor relations;
- The
right to a real code of conduct based on modern
labor standards, after McDonald’s
and its
suppliers unilaterally imposed a hollow code
of conduct comprised of minimal labor standards
and suspect
monitoring
On March 8th, 2005, the CIW entered into an historic
agreement with Taco Bell and Yum Brands, establishing
important new precedents for corporate social responsibility
in the fast-food industry. But since that time,
McDonald’s has taken a path that threatens
to undercut the wage gains won by farmworkers in
the Taco Bell Boycott and to push workers back
away from the table where decisions are made that
affect their lives.
Highlights of the tour will include:
March 31 – National
Day of Prayer and Delegation
to McDonald’s Headquarters, Oak Brook, IL.
A delegation of religious leaders and farmworkers
will deliver over 3,000 cards signed by workers
in Immokalee calling on McDonald’s to work
with the CIW to raise wages and improve working
conditions in their supply chain.
April 1 – March
and Demonstration for Farmworker Rights,
Chicago, IL On the fifth anniversary
of the launching of the Taco Bell boycott, farmworkers
and their allies will march 5-miles to the Rock-and-Roll
McDonald’s in the center of Chicago, one
of the most frequented and well-known McDonald’s
in the world. At the culmination of the march the
CIW, together with human rights, religious, student,
labor, and community allies, will announce next
actions in the Campaign for Fair Food.
For more information on tour actions or background
on the CIW’s Campaign for Fair Food, visit
www.ciw-online.org
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