McDonald's: Work with the CIW to change conditions in the fields!

At the press conference ending the Taco Bell boycott, CIW member and 2003 RFK Human Rights Award Laureate Lucas Benitez addressed the vast network of boycott allies directly, saying, "Our work together is not done. Now we must convince other companies that they have the power to change the way they do business and the way workers are treated." So, this Thanksgiving season, when we traditionally celebrate the harvest, let us also celebrate the harvesters. Join the CIW in calling on the world's largest restaurant chain, McDonald's to stop dragging its feet and to work with the CIW to improve the wages and working conditions for the men and women who pick its tomatoes. Contact McDonald's today and demand they, too, pay a fair price for their tomatoes and work with the CIW to end human rights violations in the fields! You can also call 630-623-3000 (ask operator for Social Responsibility department), fax 630-623-7409, and fill out an online form http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.custsat.custsat_form_social.html

Sample Letter for Campaign

Subject: Don't miss the opportunity to do the right thing!

Dear [ Decision Maker ] ,

I am writing to urge you to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to improve the wages and working conditions of the farmworkers who pick tomatoes in McDonald's supply chain. I call on you to:

- pay a fair increase per pound for the tomatoes McDonald's purchases and ensure the increase is passed along to tomato pickers

- establish an enforceable code of conduct to ensure safe working conditions

Your recent initiative to offer only fair trade coffee in your New England restaurants demonstrates your commitment to the principles of fair wages and working conditions for those who produce the food you sell.

You have the opportunity to ensure the same kind of dignity for the tomato pickers in your supply chain by following the lead established by Yum Brands earlier this year.

The agreement reached by the CIW and Yum Brands is already yielding concrete improvements in workers' wages and conditions -- improvements including almost doubling workers' wages when workers pick for Taco Bell. As a self-proclaimed leader in corporate accountability, I hope McDonald's will exceed what Yum has done by paying even more than a one penny a pound increase for its tomatoes so that workers can regain what they've lost to inflation over the last three decades.

As we celebrate the harvest this Thanksgiving, I ask you to remember the harvesters. McDonald's has the power to make a profound and lasting contribution to human rights. Don't miss this opportunity.

Sincerely,

Campaign Launched:
November 21, 2005

Background Information

For months, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and allies across the country have called on McDonald's to do the right thing: Follow Taco Bell's lead and work with the CIW to establish fair wages and working conditions for the farmworkers who pick its tomatoes.

In March of this year, Taco Bell agreed to take responsibility for the abysmal conditions faced by farmworkers who pick its tomatoes. The agreement established a partnership between Yum Brands, Taco Bell's parent company, and the CIW and set several important precedents for social responsibility in the fast-food industry. Among those precedents, Taco Bell agreed to pay a penny more per pound for the tomatoes it buys from Florida growers -- an increase that could nearly double workers' sub-poverty wages -- and to establish the first-ever enforceable Code of Conduct for US agricultural suppliers.

Yet despite strong public support for the ground-breaking agreement, McDonald's has steadfastly refused to follow Taco Bell's lead on this simple path to justice.

Now comes the news that McDonald's has announced that it will offer only fair trade coffee in more than 650 of its restaurants from New York to Maine. Fair trade coffee is a laudable initiative whereby major coffee buyers, such as McDonalds, agree to pay a premium price -- above market price -- so that workers who grow and pick their coffee can receive a fair wage and improved working conditions.

While McDonald's should be commended for addressing economic injustice in its coffee supply chain, it continues to pay the artificially low market price for tomatoes, a price that leaves farmworkers locked in poverty and sweatshop conditions.

So, this Thanksgiving season, when we traditionally celebrate the harvest, let us also celebrate the harvesters. Join the CIW in calling on the world's largest restaurant chain to stop dragging its feet and to work with the CIW to improve the wages and working conditions for the men and women who pick its tomatoes.