Unfortunately, Dave Thomas passed away in early 2002. Under the Fair Food Program, buyers... agree to pay 1 to 4 cents more per pound of tomatoes. Those employees do not work for us.”, Farm worker and CIW organizer Santiago Perez asked Mr. Bertini if Wendy’s would continue to buy from suppliers that practiced modern day slavery. By signing, you accept Care2's Terms of Service. All rights reserved, recipient: Emil Brolick, Wendy's Company CEO. They refuse to join the Fair Food program. 1096664 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in USA. Were he alive today, Dave Thomas would certainly have taken this issue off his desk and be proud to be a participant of the Fair Food Program. You have JavaScript disabled. Housing is remedial and basically inhumane. Opinion pieces, interviews and blogs from across the business and human rights movement. You are our people. They hoard the penny-per-pound and taint their fruit with the pains and misery of low wage slavery. Under the Fair Food Program, buyers... agree to pay 1 to 4 cents more per pound of tomatoes. Wendy’s was named after the daughter of the founder, Dave Thomas. The growers, in turn, agree to pay farmworkers at least the local minimum wage, to which the premium adds a bonus, and to meet a set of labor standards like providing shade and water for workers and ensuring freedom from physical and sexual abuse. “A CONVERSATION ABOUT FLORIDA TOMATOES. http://graphics.latimes.com/product-of-mexico-camps/ Child labor is illegal but not enforced, and due to the $8-$10 per day wage, some families can’t survive without both parents and children working. Their description of the Mexican fields is “muy mal,” very bad and inhumane. In Mexico babies tended in the fields in not uncommon. Five years ago, five activists and I set up a protest action at the Wendy’s restaurant located on South High Street in Columbus, Ohio. CIW demands we make payments to employees of the companies who supply our tomatoes from the Immokalee area in Florida — even though they are not Wendy’s employees. Agreed to implement a system of health and safety volunteers, which affords workers regular and structured input into the safety of their work environment 3. The compounds are patrolled with guards and escapees are tracked and returned against their wills. Disclaimer: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre and its collaborative partners take no position on the diverse views presented in linked material within the database, nor can we guarantee the factual accuracy of all the articles and reports we make available. Wendy’s is the only holdout of the fast food restaurants. Wendy’s is being targeted by an activist group called the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and its allies at other activist organizations. Alongside its core work providing a platform for Human Rights advocates, the Resource Centre runs several focused programme areas and regularly releases briefings and reports on areas of particular interest. Bluntly put, Wendy’s has no regard for workers in the food supply chain. The CIW will be in Columbus on June 5, 2018 to speak at the Wendy’s shareholder meeting. Wendy’s purchases from growers in Mexico that enslave and abduct employees and families. Agreed to an independent and … Ask Wendy's to Help End Slavery in Florida's Tomato Fields, Copyright © 2020 Care2.com, inc. and its licensors. The Wendy’s leadership serves the public a corporate burger, and since it is made-to-order…they can add an extra tomato slice of slavery. This section contains a selection of key portals curated by our global team. Mr. Bertini received 156,000 signatures at their flagship restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. It is only right. If the pie's not big enough, make a bigger pie.”. Andrew Cockburn wrote in the Harper’s blog “Trumps Tomatoes” https://harpers.org/blog/2016/03/trumps-tomatoes/that Wendy’s could have purchased from Canada, but their price is about three times higher than the product from Mexico. After ten years of appealing to Wendy’s corporate leadership, in 2015 the CIW discovered that Wendy’s decided to quit purchasing their tomatoes from Florida growers. Our Promise: Welcome to Care2, the world’s largest community for good. At least that is what many in Columbus believe. With the implementation of the Fair Food Program, we're now on the verge of eliminating slavery in Florida's tomato fields. It is necessary to reiterate the reason that larger and larger groups of farm workers and consumers demand that Wendy’s join the Fair Food Program. Many of the farm workers in Immokalee have migrated from the work camps in Mexico. ... a Wendy’s spokeswoman, said... the company required its tomato suppliers to submit to third-party reviews of their human rights and labor practices. That’s the problem: not many people know what’s wrong with Wendy’s. The FFS outlines a core of basic workers’ rights, including the prohibition of physical and sexual abuse, wage theft, and reasonable demands of water, shade, respect and human rights in the fields; Farm workers are asking Wendy’s customers to boycott the “family style” fast food restaurant. His image of what a family company should be is what is etched in the minds of most consumers: Dave Thomas, “Do the Right Thing.” Dave Thomas, “Treat people with respect.” Dave Thomas, “Give everyone a chance to have a piece of the pie. "Why Wendy's Is Facing Campus Protests (It's About the Tomatoes)", 7 March 2019. The contrast in Wendy’s changing from American growers to a Mexican grower demonstrates a step in the wrong direction in regard to human rights in the tomato fields. Wendy’s corporate management decided to purchase from Bioparques de Occidente, a Mexican grower. A group of employees known as the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) is calling for a boycott of the hamburger titan, kicking off a demonstration to communicate its displeasure with a 12-day Workers’ Voice tour earlier this month.. … Freelance journalist Evan Davis captured a discussion in 2013 between advocates and farm workers with Wendy’s spokesperson Bob Bertini. It’s the world’s third largest fast food hamburger chain, servicing millions of customers annually. The fact is that Wendy’s is not part of the Fair Food Program. The FFS is more than a one-penny-per-pound bonus for the farm workers harvesting the tomatoes. Care2 Stands Against: bigots, racists, bullies, science deniers, misogynists, gun lobbyists, xenophobes, the willfully ignorant, animal abusers, frackers, and other mean people. It is described as modern-day slavery. Follow and join the action. They claim to only purchase from FFP compliant growers, but purchase from Mexico. Here, you’ll find over 45 million like-minded people working towards progress, kindness, and lasting impact. CIW is demanding an added fee on top of the … Adopted the Fair Food Code of Conduct 2. The Wendy’s leadership serves the public a corporate burger, and since it is made-to-order…they can add an extra tomato slice of slavery. Wendy’s has more than 6,500 franchises in the US alone. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) has Wendy’s—the world’s third largest hamburger chain—in its crosshairs. If Wendy's follows the lead of McDonald's, Subway, Burger King and Taco Bell, their immense purchasing power could help bring the last 10% of farms to the table and ensure the tomato industry never sees another case of modern slavery. But only 20 to 25 percent of tomatoes in the United States are purchased from growers that take part in the program... ... Wendy’s had ceased buying winter tomatoes from Florida and was importing most of that supply from Mexican farms, where forced labor and physical abuse are common. It is managed and controlled by a multibillion dollar asset management firm, Trian Partners based in New York City, whose main motivation is shareholder profit above all, even human, costs. Just a few years ago, the situation for workers in Florida's tomato farms was so bad that one federal prosecutor called Florida "Ground-zero for modern slavery."