US church fair-wage activists pressurise McDonald’s
-24/08/06
Progressive Christians
US church fair-wage activists pressurise McDonald’s
-24/08/06
Progressive Christians in the USA are pressing one of the worldís biggest brands to improve its labour practices as part of a persistent global campaign to bring the McDonalds fast-food chain to proper account.
Farm workers who pick tomatoes for McDonald’s products earn just 40 to 50 cents for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick, a rate that has not risen significantly in nearly 30 years, says Sojourners/Call to Renewal.
Workers who toil from dawn to dusk without the right to overtime pay or any benefits must pick two tons of tomatoes to earn 50 US dollars in one day. Worse yet, say campaigners, modern-day slavery has re-emerged in Florida’s fields.
Since 1997, the US Department of Justice has prosecuted five slavery rings, freeing more than 1,000 workers. As a major buyer of Florida tomatoes, McDonald’s high-volume, low-cost purchasing practices place downward pressure on farm worker wages, putting corporate profits before human dignity, say critics.
Explains Sojourners, well-known for its association with the Rev Jim Wallis: ìAs people of faith we believe every person has the right to a safe and productive work environment. A central commitment of our Covenant for a New America campaign is that those who work responsibly should earn a living family income.î
The group continues: ìWe know change is possible. Last year, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Yum Brands (Taco Bell’s parent company) reached a groundbreaking agreement to directly improve farm worker wages and enforce a code of conduct for humane conditions in Taco Bell’s tomato supply chain. Yet McDonald’s has refused to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to create similar change in its supply chain.î
Sojournersí mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice. In the case of McDonaldís, it highlights the Christian vision that society be organized so all members have genuine access to the resources needed to live a decent life and provide for their families.
Say the campaigners: ìAs Christians, we stand with these workers in witnessing against unjust corporate practices that undermine human dignity and chip away at the common good. Please take action today to encourage McDonald’s to change these deplorable conditions.î
For more than a year, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and religious, human rights, and community leaders have called upon McDonald’s to work with the CIW farm workers to improve wages and working conditions for those who harvest its tomatoes.
Instead, it is claimed, McDonald’s has resorted to public relations ploys, such as a study of farm worker wages that analysts say uses faulty maths to misrepresent their pay.
Sojourners declares: ìTo date, McDonald’s efforts aim to simply cover up the reality in the fields and silence the voice of the CIW farm workers rather than embrace partnership and true change.î
In a celebrated and landmark case in the UK in the mid-1990s, two activists (Helen Steele and David Morris) were prosecuted by McDonaldís for a leaflet critical of the company in a libel trial that lasted for two-and-a-half years and became the longest of its kind in English legal history.
The verdict was devastating for McDonald’s. Though the company won some issues, for what many considered technical reasons, the McLibel judge ruled that they ‘exploit children’ with their advertising, produce ‘misleading’ advertising, are ‘culpably responsible’ for cruelty to animals, are ‘antipathetic’ to unionisation and pay their workers low wages.
Now Sojourners are urging supporters to send a letter to McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner to demand that McDonald’s work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to ensure fair wages and working conditions in its tomato supply chain.
[Also on Ekklesia: Faith and labour groups enjoy US minimum wage successes; Christian social justice meeting switches to ‘living wage’ hotel; Study reveals causes of poverty remain the same; Mennonites highlight plight of Canadaís undocumented migrant workers; Campaigners celebrate as IBM unveils code of conduct; Millions of world’s poorest workers face New Year misery; Methodists celebrate trade unions and martyrs for workers rights; Give injustice the Red Card; Church group expresses concern over global recruitment of migrant workers; Methodist church and trade unions team up against exploitation; Wealth needs to be shared, says Faithful Cities commission; Call for paradigm shift in migration debate; Is God bankrupt? – Ekklesia economy report; Praise for ‘just wealth’ but report leaves God bankrupt; Church urban report (Faithful Cities) dismissed as socialism and piety; Christians call for monetary justice as Bono weathers tax storm]
US church fair-wage activists pressurise McDonald’s
-24/08/06
Progressive Christians in the USA are pressing one of the worldís biggest brands to improve its labour practices as part of a persistent global campaign to bring the McDonalds fast-food chain to proper account.
Farm workers who pick tomatoes for McDonald’s products earn just 40 to 50 cents for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick, a rate that has not risen significantly in nearly 30 years, says Sojourners/Call to Renewal.
Workers who toil from dawn to dusk without the right to overtime pay or any benefits must pick two tons of tomatoes to earn 50 US dollars in one day. Worse yet, say campaigners, modern-day slavery has re-emerged in Florida’s fields.
Since 1997, the US Department of Justice has prosecuted five slavery rings, freeing more than 1,000 workers. As a major buyer of Florida tomatoes, McDonald’s high-volume, low-cost purchasing practices place downward pressure on farm worker wages, putting corporate profits before human dignity, say critics.
Explains Sojourners, well-known for its association with the Rev Jim Wallis: ìAs people of faith we believe every person has the right to a safe and productive work environment. A central commitment of our Covenant for a New America campaign is that those who work responsibly should earn a living family income.î
The group continues: ìWe know change is possible. Last year, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and Yum Brands (Taco Bell’s parent company) reached a groundbreaking agreement to directly improve farm worker wages and enforce a code of conduct for humane conditions in Taco Bell’s tomato supply chain. Yet McDonald’s has refused to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to create similar change in its supply chain.î
Sojournersí mission is to proclaim and practice the biblical call to integrate spiritual renewal and social justice. In the case of McDonaldís, it highlights the Christian vision that society be organized so all members have genuine access to the resources needed to live a decent life and provide for their families.
Say the campaigners: ìAs Christians, we stand with these workers in witnessing against unjust corporate practices that undermine human dignity and chip away at the common good. Please take action today to encourage McDonald’s to change these deplorable conditions.î
For more than a year, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and religious, human rights, and community leaders have called upon McDonald’s to work with the CIW farm workers to improve wages and working conditions for those who harvest its tomatoes.
Instead, it is claimed, McDonald’s has resorted to public relations ploys, such as a study of farm worker wages that analysts say uses faulty maths to misrepresent their pay.
Sojourners declares: ìTo date, McDonald’s efforts aim to simply cover up the reality in the fields and silence the voice of the CIW farm workers rather than embrace partnership and true change.î
In a celebrated and landmark case in the UK in the mid-1990s, two activists (Helen Steele and David Morris) were prosecuted by McDonaldís for a leaflet critical of the company in a libel trial that lasted for two-and-a-half years and became the longest of its kind in English legal history.
The verdict was devastating for McDonald’s. Though the company won some issues, for what many considered technical reasons, the McLibel judge ruled that they ‘exploit children’ with their advertising, produce ‘misleading’ advertising, are ‘culpably responsible’ for cruelty to animals, are ‘antipathetic’ to unionisation and pay their workers low wages.
Now Sojourners are urging supporters to send a letter to McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner to demand that McDonald’s work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to ensure fair wages and working conditions in its tomato supply chain.
[Also on Ekklesia: Faith and labour groups enjoy US minimum wage successes; Christian social justice meeting switches to ‘living wage’ hotel; Study reveals causes of poverty remain the same; Mennonites highlight plight of Canadaís undocumented migrant workers; Campaigners celebrate as IBM unveils code of conduct; Millions of world’s poorest workers face New Year misery; Methodists celebrate trade unions and martyrs for workers rights; Give injustice the Red Card; Church group expresses concern over global recruitment of migrant workers; Methodist church and trade unions team up against exploitation; Wealth needs to be shared, says Faithful Cities commission; Call for paradigm shift in migration debate; Is God bankrupt? – Ekklesia economy report; Praise for ‘just wealth’ but report leaves God bankrupt; Church urban report (Faithful Cities) dismissed as socialism and piety; Christians call for monetary justice as Bono weathers tax storm]