Posted on 03/29/2006 4:31:32 AM PST by FerdieMurphy
They've finished the south leg that's taken them from Immokalee to Louisville, Ky.
This morning, Immokalee farmworkers and their supporters will split into three groups that will take them to St. Louis, Indianapolis and Cincinnati.
By Saturday, they will reach the peak of this year's "truth tour," which targets McDonald's restaurants.
On April 1, the group and their allies plan a five-mile march to the Rock 'n' Roll McDonald's in downtown Chicago. Their fight is for better wages and living conditions for tomato pickers.
So far, the tour — organized by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers — has gone smoothly.
A group of about 50 left Immokalee in caravans at 6 a.m. Sunday. Later that day, the coalition organized its first protest of a McDonald's restaurant in Gainesville. University of Florida students joined in.
"That was cool," said Sean Sellers, the national co-coordinator for the Student Farmworker Alliance based in Immokalee. "There has been a long history of student support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers at UF."
This is the coalition's fifth cross-country tour. In the past, the group has targeted Taco Bell. It moved on to McDonald's last year after reaching a landmark agreement with Taco Bell's parent company, Yum! Brands.
Yum! Brands agreed to require its suppliers to pay tomato pickers a penny more a pound.
Coalition leaders say McDonald's is undermining the Taco Bell agreement by resisting the group's demands and not giving farmworkers a voice in decisions it is making that could affect their lives.
McDonald's spokeswoman Lisa Howard couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
McDonald's previously has pledged to make changes. But coalition members say what they've proposed isn't enough.
Julia Perkins, a coalition organizer, said what McDonald's is asking for from its suppliers is what they should be doing already under state and federal laws.
"It's patronizing to the workers," she said. "It's like if your father says he is going to give you a new toy but all he does is takes the toy he gave you from last year, shines it up so it looks pretty, puts it in nice wrapping paper and gives it to you. It's really the same thing."
Monday evening, farmworkers stopped at the headquarters of Yum! Brands in Louisville to celebrate their victory last year and then marched to a nearby McDonald's.
"Those gains are a great first step," Perkins said of the agreement with Yum! Brands. "But there are many more farmworkers out there that need the same kinds of changes and there are other fast-food companies — like McDonald's — that have the power to make those changes."
National and regional religious leaders have called for a day of prayer and meditation on Friday in support of the coalition's Real Rights Tour.
"It's a way to connect us in this common action," said Rev. Noelle Damico, who represents the Office of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on matters of fair food.
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and many other religious groups supported the Taco Bell boycott. Damico plans to join the coalition later this week on its tour.
Past truth tours demonstrated how the people involved can work together on issues such as improved wages and human rights for farmworkers.
"People are able to connect human being to human being, to hear each other's story and to build relationships that enable us to take powerful action together," she said.
On Friday, more than 3,000 cards signed by Immokalee farmworkers will be delivered to the McDonald's headquarters that ask the company to work with the coalition for higher wages and better working conditions.
The march on April 1 could involve hundreds of demonstrators, Perkins said.
"We've had a group of people from Immokalee up in Chicago for the last couple of weeks talking to the community there," she said. "There is an outpouring of support."
While they're traipsing around the country following orders, these "pickers" aren't getting any tomatoes picked.
Ha Ha Ha ROFL, what goes around comes around! Take that employers who live off undocumented low wage earner! ;)
How soon do you think it will take for the greedy employers to get off their gravy train and tell house and senate to get rid of the bums. HA! YUP this is finally all coming to a head for those who IMPORTED POVERTY! Those who thought importing "undocumented workers" would be a panacea which has now become everyones worse nightmare, they imported way to many and now this sea of humanity is growing and multiplying and has become to big and hot to handle and keep underground anymore, we should encourage the mexican flag wavers to keep up the good work, keep on demanding and demonstrating and stop hiding and make all the demands you want! HA! ESPECIALLY HIGHER WAGES, than we won't have to support you all on welfare.
You know, the companies with money, which I desire they transfer to the workers I represent, but I have to be careful I don't tip the scales too far and demand more than a company can reasonably pay, or it becomes a goose and golden egg story. I have to show that I appreciate all of what goes into company profitability, and and be able to balance that with what workers desires are, if so, I can better represent both groups in negotiating what might be best for both.
I guess that would describe an honest union negotiator, of which their are precious few. Instead of pitting one against another, they would be working together toward a common goal. They ought to be getting help from folks who know how to produce success. You know, like McDonald's. Time to send all these bleeding heart leftists with so much concern for workers, down south where there is no work, nor any workers, BECAUSE THEY ARE ALL UP HERE DOING WORK WE WON'T DO!
IMHO the previous statement in bold is a large even hugh example of bovine excrement brought to you by lobbyists and your Congress, state and or federal, take your pick. GIVING THEM ANYTHING IS ONLY PROMOTING THE CONTINUATION OF A SITUATION THAT CAN NO LONGER CONTINUE AS IT IS WITHOUT SERIES CONSEQUENCES, MOST OF WHICH ARE ONLY SERIES FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
While all this is going on, it is time for the country to find out how many illegal migrant farm workers it takes to provide the food distribution system for the USA. I venture to say the federal government could provide the buses at the border, the wages, and the control mechanism to return them all to the border when finished with the years harvest, cheaper, than what we are going to hear for cost estimates on building the wall necessary to head them toward the legal border entry points.
Doesn't this breakdown in our system describe another glaring example of 40 years of democrat control of congress. Not sure if anyone has bothered to mention that little fact. Of course that statement is not synergistic, and does more to fuel the firestorm than it does to solve the problem. Sorry, JMHO
Excellent comments!!!!
Great, a three post dead thread on a very imortant subject. That ought to be bumped till the cows come home.
Thanks, this is looking like a situation that is not going away anytime soon, and we needed a solution yesterday, not 10 years and amnesty later. On the other hand, this could be so volatile a situation that if as a politician, you are found on what turns out to be(unknown at this time)the wrong side of the issue, the destiny of the entire country could be at risk, at least politically. When you consider the next presidential elections with potential dem candidates like John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, Algore, etc, etc, that is a series situation, politically.
That's funny. If you and I really won't do those jobs, I'd think the market would kick in and offer wage incentives until a large enough workforce was recruited.
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