McDonald’s Agrees to Higher Pay for Florida Farmworkers; Next Target is Burger King

Just days before immigrant farmworkers with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) planned to escalate their campaign against McDonald’s, the fast food giant conceded all of their demands. McDonald’s announced April 9 that they will pay one more penny per pound of tomatoes they buy in order to pass it down to the workers in form of a raise.

Piece rates for tomatoes have been stagnant since the 1970s, with workers earning 40 to 45 cents each 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick. The penny more per pound nearly doubles the going piece rate.

McDonald’s is the second corporation to concede to the farmworkers’ demands after the CIW reached an agreement with Taco Bell in 2005 — after a four year boycott — that also included the penny per pound pass through, worker monitoring, and a stronger code of conduct. Only two years after the CIW won its first victory against Taco Bell, the CIW is closer than ever to achieving the industry-wide changes they’ve been fighting for.

NOT-SO-DISTANT DREAM

The settlement with McDonald’s goes one step beyond the precedent set with Taco Bell. McDonald’s agreed to help create a third party monitoring system that would help workers and the industry monitor the penny pass through, working conditions in the fields, and adherence to the codes of conduct. In addition, McDonald’s is offering growers an incentive of a few cents more per box of tomatoes they purchase to encourage growers to continue supplying McDonald’s under the new conditions.

CIW co-founder and farmworker Lucas Benitez says that when the CIW won a similar agreement in 2005 from Taco Bell, it was the first step in achieving the “distant dream” of ensuring human rights for farmworkers.With the McDonald’s victory, their dream is looking more like reality.

In a joint press release with McDonalds’s, Benitez said, “We are not there yet, but we are getting there, and today’s agreement should send a strong message to the rest of the restaurant and supermarket industry that it is now time to stand behind the food they sell from the field to the table.”

After winning their four-year boycott of Taco Bell in 2005, the CIW asked other large fast food companies, including McDonald’s, Burger King, and Subway, to sign on with Taco Bell. While none of the companies agreed to sign on, McDonald’s dodged the workers’ demands by claiming that Florida farmworkers are well paid.

Building on the momentum from their Taco Bell boycott, the CIW’s McDonald’s campaign attracted broad support in a remarkably short time. Jobs with Justice, AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, SEIU Vice President Eliseo Medina, and leaders from several national churches threw their weight behind the farmworkers’ quest for higher wages and a code of conduct from the big corporate purchasers.

In spring of 2006, CIW farmworkers held their first major protest at Mc-Donald’s headquarters outside of Chicago. CIW farmworkers and allies were already on buses on their way to Chicago from Immokalee for a protest of McDonald’s April 13 and 14 that they said would draw thousands of allies— and would likely have included the announcement of a national boycott— when McDonald’s suddenly gave in.

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CIW had planned a two-day action that included another protest at McDonald’s headquarters and a march targeting several downtown Chicago McDonald’s locations.

The CIW says that the actions in Chicago are still on and what was once a McDonald’s protest will turn into a victory celebration. Organizers hope to harness their momentum to put pressure on the rest of the fast food industry.

Says CIW organizer Julia Perkins, “We’re continuing our actions in Chicago as planned. We’re showing the rest of the industry the force farmworkers and consumers have when they get together.”

A NEW TARGET

Quicker than you can say “victory,” the CIW made it clear they’ve got their sights set on another industry giant. After the CIW reached out to Burger King in 2005, the company stated that they were not interested in meeting the CIW’s demands.

Now that McDonald’s is at the table, the workers have said they’ll drop their campaign against McDonald’s in favor of Burger King.

“We’re turning to the next big player in the fast food industry that has already made it clear that they are not willing to pay the penny more per pound,” says Perkins. “They’ve said that they’re not willing to work with us on reforming their supply chain.”

Perkins says that instead of taking McDonald’s the farmworkers’ concerns seriously, “Burger King has even offered to retrain Immokalee farmworkers as Burger King employees. It’s a slap in the face.”

The CIW says they hope that their allies are ready to change gears quickly, as their industry-wide struggle is not slowing down. Perkins explains, “This was never about one corporation, we’re seeking an industry wide change, and based on what we’ve been able to achieve so far—we’ll get it.”

Video of the April 14 CIW "Concert For Fair Food" in Chicago... Zach de la Rocha and Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine performing an original song penned in honor of CIW's McDonald's victory.