Posted on 02/08/2007 3:41:39 PM PST by kaehurowing
Burger King decides not to have it Kirkpatrick's way
PCUSA-backed effort to increase purchase price of tomatoes fails
By Patrick Jean Staff Writer The Layman Online Thursday, February 8, 2007
Burger King Corp. has decided not to follow advice from the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA), on how to address wages and working conditions in the tomato fields.
Nearly four weeks after Kirkpatrick issued a statement urging the fast-food giant to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Burger King said it is not willing to pay a penny more per pound for the tomatoes used in its restaurants, The Miami Herald reported Tuesday.
The coalition and other organizations have been trying to get large U.S. fast-food companies to help guarantee fair wages and working conditions for laborers who pick tomatoes. The coalition, a Florida-based group of farm workers, sponsored a four-year boycott of Taco Bell that ended in March 2005 with an agreement to pay a penny more per pound for tomatoes. That extra money is supposed to be passed on to workers who pick tomatoes sold to Taco Bell.
In his statement to Burger King, dated Jan. 10, Kirkpatrick repeated a call he originally made in December 2005 for the chain to "swiftly embrace the precedents established" in the Taco Bell agreement and work with the coalition to implement them.
The hope was Burger King would follow the lead of Taco Bell's parent company, Yum! Brands Inc. But Miami-based Burger King issued a statement Monday saying that after more than a dozen meetings over the past year and a half, the chain has decided not to accept the penny-per-pound request.
Burger King said it and its purchasing agent, Restaurant Services Inc. of Coral Gables, Fla., do not have a "direct relationship with any tomato grower or its employees." The company said its tomatoes are bought from repacking companies and it does not identify the specific growers or workers who pick the tomatoes used in its restaurants.
'Absolutely absurd' A PCUSA official disagreed.
"To say that Burger King has no relationship with the supplier is absolutely absurd," the Rev. Noelle Damico, director of the Campaign for Fair Food, told the Herald. "If Yum! Brands can figure out how to do this, so can Burger King. It's a matter of willingness."
In his Jan. 10 statement to Burger King, Kirkpatrick said workers who pick tomatoes in Florida for Burger King "continue to face poverty wages and exploitative working conditions."
"They still lack rights enjoyed by workers in other industries," he wrote.
In its statement Monday, Burger King acknowledged farm workers' living conditions are substandard and said the company is "sympathetic and concerned about the housing."
The company offered to send recruiters to speak with farm workers interested in a job with Burger King. The chain's Have It Your Way Foundation also offered to work with the coalition and charitable organizations to find ways to help workers and their families.
Coalition co-founder Lucas Benitez told the Herald that Burger King's statement was "pure public relations. What is clear now is that during almost two years of conversation, BK was never acting in good faith."
The coalition hopes to convince all major fast-food companies to pay more for tomatoes, and its current public campaign for McDonald's and Chipotle Mexican Grill to raise the purchase price of its tomatoes will continue. The effort is backed in the PCUSA by the Office of the Stated Clerk and the Campaign for Fair Food, a ministry of the Presbyterian Hunger Program.
Text of Burger King statement The full text of Burger King's statement, as reported by the Herald, is as follows:
"Burger King Corporation has extensively considered the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' (CIW) 'penny per pound' request and has declined to accept the proposal. Burger King notified the CIW of our decision today, Feb. 5.
"Over the course of the past year and a half, Burger King Corporation executives have met with CIW representatives more than a dozen times, as well as with religious groups who support the CIW and the Immokalee workers. In addition, Burger King Corporation executives traveled to Immokalee to meet with the group's leadership and to view living and working conditions first-hand. We agree with the CIW that the workers' living conditions are, in fact, substandard, and we are sympathetic and concerned about the housing.
"We reached our decision for several reasons. Burger King Corporation and its purchasing agent, RSI, do not have a direct relationship with any tomato grower or its employees, as is the case with some of the other large chain restaurants. Instead, we purchase tomatoes – based on best market price – from tomato repacking companies. It is these repacking companies that have a relationship with the actual growers who employ the CIW. As a result, we do not identify the specific growers, tomatoes or workers who pick the tomatoes that are used in our restaurants.
"To ask Burger King Corporation to pay a penny more a pound for tomatoes to increase workers' wages is similar to asking shoppers to voluntarily pay a penny more per pound at the grocery store for tomatoes to increase workers' wages. Both Burger King Corporation and grocery store shoppers have no business relationship with the workers and cannot get the extra penny to them.
"Increasing the cost of tomatoes by a penny per pound does nothing to ensure support for the workers directly. Burger King Corporation has no business relationship with the workers and cannot control how they are compensated.
"In addition, the Immokalee workers' typical wages are unclear because of conflicting reports and a general lack of IRS reporting. In an April 2006 study by the Center for Reflection, Education and Action (CREA), the average hourly wage for Immokalee tomato pickers ranged from $9.65 per hour for the slowest workers to a high of $18.27 per hour for the fastest. The average pay for workers is clearly well above the Florida minimum wage of $6.40 per hour and well above standard wages for similar work.
"We have spoken to CIW representatives about our interest in recruiting interested Immokalee workers into the Burger King system. We have offered to send Burger King Corporation recruiters to the area to speak with the CIW and with workers themselves about permanent, full-time employment at Burger King restaurants. Burger King Corporation offers ongoing professional training and advancement opportunities around the country for both entry-level and skilled employee jobs, and we were hopeful the CIW will accept our offer.
"We have also spoken to the CIW about the strong interest from the charitable arm of Burger King Corporation, the Have It Your Way Foundation. The Foundation's mission is to contribute to nonprofit organizations whose goal is to improve education, alleviate hunger or disease or to support youth programs. The Foundation is keenly interested in working with the CIW and others to identify charitable organizations that could improve the lives of the workers and their families.
"Additionally, Burger King Corporation stands ready to cooperate with state and federal officials to identify any possible violations of U.S. labor laws, including minimum wage, overtime and child labor provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)."
Patrick Jean is a staff writer for The Layman and The Layman Online. He can be reached at pjean@layman.org.
Lefty Presbies get slapped down.
When they were doing this to Taco Bell, I made a point of bringing Taco Bell to church potlucks.
I'll probably check out Burger King on the way home for dinner tonight to celebrate.
Always a good thing when Lefty Presbies get slapped down.
"To ask Burger King Corporation to pay a penny more a pound for tomatoes to increase workers' wages is similar to asking shoppers to voluntarily pay a penny more per pound at the grocery store for tomatoes to increase workers' wages. Both Burger King Corporation and grocery store shoppers have no business relationship with the workers and cannot get the extra penny to them.
Just so. Good for Burger King for not knuckling under.
Kirkpatrick sounds like a Marxist. I'm less hopeful that other corporations will stand their ground. Didn't the PCUSA divest itself of all association/investment with Israeli organizations and other institutions followed suit, namely academia?
Yes, they've at least been calling for divestment, I'm not sure of their progress with it. 99% of people sitting in the pews have no idea of these shenanigans that the elites are brewing.
PCUSA pressured a Canadian oil firm to pull out of some hell hole place in the world through divestment intimidation. The oil firm capitualated and local jobs were lost, industry and economy disrupted and stifled.
A good outcome as far as PCUSA leftists were concerned, I'm sure.
Outrageous. This is meddling in geopolitics and ought to be discouraged in every church nationwide. As well, those churches that decides it's more important to meddle in this manner should have their tax exempt status revoked.
Beats working at Burger King!
Good thought about revocation of the tax-exempt status. Many of them are more rightfully described as PAC's.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.