The New York Times, in a report on the struggle of Florida farmworkers for fair wages, features the role of religious groups, and specifically that of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The report begins: 

In a colorful, often clamorous pressure campaign that has relied on support from college campuses and church groups, a group of farmworkers has persuaded McDonald’s and Taco Bell to have their tomato suppliers pay their pickers more.

But the workers’ efforts have recently collided with two big obstacles. Burger King has rejected the demands to have its tomato suppliers pay higher wages, and the main group of Florida tomato growers — calling the farmworkers’ tactics “un-American” — has threatened a $100,000 fine against growers that cooperate with McDonald’s or Yum Brands, the parent of Taco Bell, to pay their pickers more.

The only way you can describe this industry is the way it was described 40 years ago: It’s a harvest of shame,” said Lucas Benitez, a co-founder of the farmworkers’ group, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. “The wages are so low that a lot of workers are just surviving.

The closing paragraphs: 

But the Rev. Noelle Damico, national coordinator of the Campaign for Fair Food for the Presbyterian Church, said the church planned to continue putting pressure on Burger King and the Tomato Growers Exchange to increase wages.

“For years we’ve provided charity to farmworkers in South Florida, and we started asking, ‘Why are farmworkers who work six days a week and often 10 or 12 hours a day still needing help from charity?’” she said.“We saw that something was very wrong.”

March on Burger King -- an update

from The Rev. Noelle Damico, PC(USA) Campaign for Fair Food

[12-3-07]

This past Friday, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers led over 1,500 people in a powerful, peaceful march on Burger King. Presbyterians were prominent throughout the event. Just to name a few:

•           The Rev. Kennedy McGowan, speaking on behalf of Tropical Florida Presbytery, gave a stirring speech at the rally saying, reminding Burger King that they needed to have it "God's way, which is the way of justice!"

 •          The Rev. Miguel Fernando Estrada Salvador of Beth-El Farmworker Ministry, a Reformed spiritual presence in Immokalee that is supported by the Peace River and Tampa Bay Presbyteries, led marchers in fervent prayer during the concluding candlelight vigil for farmworkers' human rights.  

•           Amy Robinson of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary announced that Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary had joined the Alliance for Fair Food and was standing with the CIW  

•           Jim McDonald, Education Director of Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church in Naples, drove the church's bus at the tail of the massive march providing needed relief for weary or ill marchers.  

•           Liz Theoharis, Ph.D. student at Union Theological Seminary in NYC, brought a delegation of students to march

While marchers made their way to Burger King's world headquarters in Miami, former President Jimmy Carter released a letter to the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, noted Burger King (and other corporations) "standing silent" as the "modest gains (for farmworkers) are deliberately rolled back." Former President Carter joins Stated Clerk of the GA, Clifton Kirkpatrick, as well as over one hundred religious leaders in speaking out against these efforts to undermine the CIW's agreements with Yum! Brands and McDonald's.
 

Tomato growers blast the workers' movement -- and those who support them:

Professional Activists Continue to Mislead Public and Farm Workers About 'Penny-Per-Pound' Deals That Don't Exist

The following new release is posted here just as it came (apparently) from the industry group, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, on Nov 30, 2007.

[posted here 12-3-07]

MAITLAND, Fla., Nov. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange issued the following statement today about the scheduled protest in Miami organized by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW):

"CIW is using today's march in Miami to mislead the public about Florida's tomato industry in a desperate attempt to pressure Burger King into adopting a "penny-per-pound" deal that does not exist. There is no such arrangement in effect between producers and fast-food companies, which continue to buy Florida tomatoes.

The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange is concerned that the penny-per-pound scheme may violate federal and state laws related to antitrust, labor and racketeering, so our members have chosen not to participate in any pact in which a third party sets wages for their employees.

Growers who sold tomatoes to Taco Bell under the penny-per-pound deal last season are not participating in the deal this year. The now moot arrangement netted workers a small weekly amount so insignificant that many chose not to even cash the checks. The McDonald's deal never went into effect.

This season's payroll records show that Florida tomato harvesters' hourly pay ranged from $10.50 to $14.86, with an average of $12.46 per hour. The harvesters earn more than double the current federal minimum wage of $5.85 per hour and nearly double Florida's minimum wage of $6.67 per hour.

The farmworkers harvest tomatoes an average of 25 to 30 hours per week in addition to other tasks on the farm. For most workers, the tomato harvest in Florida is only part of the work they do during the year. Many move on to other regions to harvest other crops throughout the growing season.

There are more impactful ways to make a difference for tomato harvesters. Florida's tomato producers demonstrate social accountability by participating in comprehensive programs that certify employment, health, housing and safety practices. They undergo audits by third-party companies to ensure they provide a work environment for their employees that is free of hazard, intimidation, violence and harassment."

The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange is a private, voluntary and member-driven agricultural cooperative of Florida tomato growers. For more information, go to www.floridatomatogrowers.org and www.safeagemployer.org.

SOURCE Florida Tomato Growers Exchange

A little observation from your WebWeaver:

We find it interesting that the label "labor activist," which the Tomato Growers Exchange is presumably applying to Presbyterian staff member Noelle Damico, is the same label used by Jim Berkley, Director of Presbyterian Action, which is a part of the Institute for Religion and Democracy.  For both groups, it's pretty clearly not a term of endearment.

Presbyterians join with Coalition of Immokalee Workers in march on Burger King     [12-1-07]

Presbyterians from Florida and across the country joined hundreds of farmworkers and their supporters in a peaceful march on Burger King headquarters in Miami Friday, November 30. Marchers demanded that the fast-food giant join McDonald’s and Yum! Brands in working with farmworkers to improve wages and working conditions for tomato pickers.

Immokalee leader addresses shareholders

As shareholders arrived at Burger King’s annual meeting on Thursday, Nov. 29, they were greeted with a large banner that read “Burger King Exploits Farmworkers.” Meanwhile, inside the meeting Lucas Benitez, a farmworker and one of the founders of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, addressed the shareholders during their open question portion of the meeting (which is required of all public companies by the S.E.C.). Read Lucas’ address.

New York Times op-ed writer calls the action of Burger King, in concert with the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, “penny foolish.”

The two groups are acting to undo the penny-a-pound raise for tomato pickers, which the CIW has won Taco Bell and McDonald’s over recent months. The author, Eric Schlosser, concludes:

Telling Burger King to pay an extra penny for tomatoes and provide a decent wage to migrant workers would hardly bankrupt the company. Indeed, it would cost Burger King only $250,000 a year. At Goldman Sachs [one of three private equity firms that control most of Burger King’s stock] that sort of money shouldn’t be too hard to find. In 2006, the bonuses of the top 12 Goldman Sachs executives exceeded $200 million — more than twice as much money as all of the roughly 10,000 tomato pickers in southern Florida earned that year. Now Mr. Blankfein should find a way to share some of his company’s good fortune with the workers at the bottom of the food chain.

Read Schlosser’s column >>

For more background on this campaign against justice >>

And whadda ya know – The Institute for Religion and Democracy is joining in on the attack!

Director of Presbyterian Action (part of IRD) Jim Berkley offers the lead quote: “That the Presbyterian Church actually discharged many missionaries in 2004 at the same time it hired a labor activist to promote this action is a travesty.”

Were you in Miami for the action on Thursday?
Do you have thoughts about this struggle for justice, and the resistance it has aroused?
Just send a note, to be shared here!

This comes to us from the Rev. Noelle Damico, of the Campaign for Fair Food program of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

On the heels of public revelations that Burger King and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, the growers' lobby, have been cooperating to roll-back the CIW's agreements with Yum! Brands and McDonald's, The Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, has released a public statement decrying these actions. To read the full text of this powerful statement visit www.pcusa.org/fairfood. An excerpt is below.

Dr. Kirkpatrick writes:

In the course of history there have always been those who have opposed the advancement of human rights. But the fundamental truth of human dignity has always triumphed, if not immediately, then eventually. Burger King and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange (FTGE) are using their power to try and turn back the inevitable progress of human rights for farmworkers. And their coordinated tactics, which squarely target some of the poorest, most vulnerable members of our society, are as morally repugnant as they are in vain….

Fair Food and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers are under attack by Burger King

Now is the time to act – join the farmworkers in Miami on this Friday for the march on Burger King

We have just received this urgent call from the Rev. Noelle Damico, the PC(USA) liaison to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.    [11-27-07]

As the 2007 March on Burger King rapidly approaches, a flurry of articles on the Campaign for Fair Food has hit papers across the country. The recent surge in coverage was sparked by the revelation that Burger King has joined forces with the most conservative elements of the Florida tomato industry to launch an aggressive assault on the CIW's groundbreaking agreements with fast-food leaders Yum Brands and McDonald's.

Click here to see the articles and our analysis of the revelations.

As outrageous as it sounds, it appears that BK is no longer just resisting progress, the world's second largest fast-food chain is actually working with the Florida tomato growers' lobby to take the few pennies farmworkers have won over the past several years -- through hunger strikes, marches, and protests -- away.

The news makes one thing perfectly clear: If you care about Fair Food, it is time NOW to act. If you were on the fence about coming to Miami, it is time NOW to get on the bus.

We are clearly going to have to fight for every inch of progress in this campaign, and even fight to keep the ground we've won. So if you think farmworkers deserve fairer wages and working conditions, you need to join us in Miami this Friday for the March on Burger King.

Go to http://www.ciw-online.org  for all the information on how you can join a caravan to Miami from your community.

At a penny per pound, a little adds up to a lot
[11-27-07]

St. Petersburg Times columnist Robyn Blumner reports on the Coalition of Immokalee Farmworkers’ struggle for decent wages, and their success in gaining support from Yum Brands and McDonald’s. The latest wrinkle, she writes, is that “a huge roadblock has been erected. The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange is warning its members not to participate in a deal [with Yum Brands and McDonald’s] that it says is illegal.

But she notes that “consumers tend to respond well to a company they think is socially responsible, and the converse is true. A new study by researchers Michael Hiscox and Nicholas Smyth at Harvard University confirms that consumers not only say they're willing to pay more for products made under decent working conditions but act that way too.”

New hope, new challenges.

Farmworkers rights group has sights set on Burger King  [11-13-07]

Anti-Slavery International, a non-governmental organization based in Great Britain, has announced that it is presenting its 2007 Anti-Slavery Award to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a Florida-based farmworkers rights group that has been strongly supported by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).

The PC(USA) nominated the CIW for the prestigious award, said the Rev. Noelle Damico, who heads the denomination’s “Fair Food” campaign, a project of the Presbyterian Hunger Program.

The CIW is best-known for its consumer boycotts that have resulted in groundbreaking agreements with Yum! Brands (the parent company of Taco Bell) and McDonalds to improve wages and working conditions in Florida's produce fields.

The PC(USA) was among the first U.S. religious groups to support the Taco Bell boycott -- the 2002 General Assembly endorsed it -- and the celebration of the March 2005 settlement between Yum! Brands and the CIW was held at the Presbyterian Center in Louisville.

Anti-Slavery International is recognizing the farmworkers group for what many consider even more important work: documenting the cases of trafficking Mexican and Central American farmworkers for forced labor.

Having secured agreements with Yum! Brands and McDonalds, the CIW is now pursuing an agreement with Burger King. Damico will speak at a march and rally at Burger King's headquarters in Miami on Nov. 30-Dec. 1.

BK exec’s remarks called a ‘disservice’    [10-6-07]

The Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) General Assembly, is publicly calling on a Burger King executive to retract comments he made recently about the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a group of church-backed farm workers who pick tomatoes in Florida used by the fast-food giant.

Steven Grover, Burger King’s vice president of food safety, quality assurance and regulatory compliance, inflamed Kirkpatrick last month when he raised concerns in two Florida newspapers about a CIW proposal for improving farmworker wages and working conditions.

Kirkpatrick said Grover inaccurately portrayed the Florida-based CIW as receiving payments directly from McDonald’s Corp. and Taco Bell, payments that are earmarked for farm workers harvesting for these companies. He also asserted that the CIW asked Burger King to sign a check to them and sought to benefit monetarily from a "secret agreement."

"These claims are false and not only do a disservice to CIW, but to Burger King as well,"Kirkpatrick wrote in a Sept. 21 letter to Grover. "I respectfully ask you to swiftly and publicly retract these statements . . . "

Kirkpatrick, who participated in meetings that led to the agreements with Taco Bell parent Yum! Brands, Inc. and had also engaged McDonald’s on these issues, told Grover in his letter that the Coalition specifically "rejected any and all proposals" that might direct a corporation’s increased payment to farm workers through the CIW.

PHP grants help build more socially responsible food supply
[9-5-07]

Presbyterian News Service reports that the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) has awarded grants totaling $196,300 to 26 organizations around the country working to alleviate hunger by creating a more just and healthier food system.

Funding for the grants, which represents a portion of awards given each year by PHP, comes from the One Great Hour of Sharing offering.

The grants will help support projects that focus on such issues as food accessibility for low-income families, justice for farm workers, strengthening local food economies, sustainable development, community organizing, and education and advocacy around food issues.

1. Labor Day Sunday (Sept. 2nd) lectionary resources
2. Email Burger King and ask them to work with the CIW
3. Children write to Burger King / K-5 Curriculum

1. LABOR DAY SUNDAY (SEPT 2) LECTIONARY RESOURCES

2. E-MAIL BURGER KING

3. CHILDREN WRITE TO BURGER KING / K-5 Curriculum

As your congregation prepares for a new year of church school, consider lifting up the work of the church and the key role children and youth are playing in convincing fast-food corporations to become partners in justice with the farmworkers who harvest their tomatoes. You may wish to make use of a great new K-5 curriculum prepared by students at Princeton Theological Seminary. Click here to read and download the material and stay tuned for Jr. High and Sr. High curricula  (be sure to scroll down the page).

Peace,

Yum! Brands expands deal with tomato pickers to all its restaurants   [5-31-07]

Taco Bell parent company Yum! Brands Inc. recently announced that it has expanded its agreement with a group of church-backed tomato pickers to cover all of its restaurant chains: Pizza Hut, KFC, Long John Silver's and A&W All-American Food Restaurants.

From the Presbyterian Witness in Washington Weekly for April 30, 2007   [posted here 5-1-07]

"Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread" – Matthew 6:11

Seated at the table with his friends, Jesus breaks bread and calls on the disciples to love God by loving each other and all of God’s children. This ancient meal is a summons to Christians to serve one another with great tenderness, compassion and eagerness for justice.

In 2007, Congress will reauthorize, and hopefully reform, the farm bill. Since its inception, this law has embodied the United States’ dedication to the men and women who grow our food and work the land. Each reauthorization of the bill since 1933 has changed the way federal policy addresses our food system. The last farm bill (2002) has nine titles, including programs as diverse as direct payments to farmers, nutrition programs like Food Stamps, conservation incentives to protect the environment, and food aid to poor nations in times of crisis. People of faith are working to ensure that the next farm bill will be responsive to God’s call to build healthy communities. Congress must produce a bill that offers viable solutions to ending hunger at home and around the world, protecting creation and rebuilding rural communities, while being mindful of the impact U.S. policy has on our neighbors abroad.

FLOC thanks everyone who voiced their outrage at the brutal murder of Santiago Rafael Cruz.

YOUR MESSAGE WAS HEARD!

The Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC, AFL-CIO) announces that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has granted it preventive measures petition, following the brutal assassination of union organizer Santiago Rafael Cruz in Monterrey on April 9. The IACHR has instructed the Mexican government to "adopt the necessary measures to guarantee the life and physical security" of FLOC staff in Mexico and to keep the IACHR informed of the judicial process to bring Santiago’s killers to justice.

The approval letter addressed by the IACHR Executive Secretary’s office to FLOC stipulates that the Mexican government has seven (7) days to implement these instructions, beginning April 23. FLOC awaits contact from the government to negotiate what preventive measures are needed and how soon they can be implemented. It is urgent that FLOC staff in Monterrey be afforded all necessary security measures and that FLOC’s office in that city be fortified against any further attacks.

The IACHR’s support comes after an inspiring international solidarity campaign initiated by FLOC’s staff and supporters. Politicians, labor leaders, union members, human rights groups, churches, community organizations, and FLOC supporters came together from all over the world to voice their outrage at the brutal murder of Santiago. FLOC sincerely thanks everyone who communicated their solidarity with Santiago. Your solidarity fills our hearts. It is with your added strength that we will continue to fight for justice.

The assassination of Santiago Rafael Cruz came after more than two years of media attacks, deportation threats, robberies and violent intimidation of the FLOC office and its staff in Monterrey. FLOC believes that the murder was a targeted political attack on the union. In 2004 FLOC won a historic collective agreement with the North Carolina Growers Association to represent nearly 10,000 farmworkers who travel each year from Mexico to North Carolina on H2-A guest worker visas to harvest tobacco, cucumbers and Christmas trees. This agreement provides the only recruiting program with integrity for "guestworkers" traveling from Mexico by giving them a grievance process to defend their labor and human rights. FLOC also recently won a historic Federal lawsuit which dealt a blow to corrupt recruiters in rural areas of Mexico who overcharge workers by several hundred dollars to find them jobs in the U.S. We eliminated those fees for nearly 70,000 H2A workers. While we are heartened by the support of the NCGA and their commitment to regularizing the recruitment process through union agreement, our victories clearly anger other recruiters outside of our agreement who benefited from exploiting and cheating Mexican workers.

Baldemar Velasquez, President of FLOC, insists this new development be viewed with caution."While I applaud the IACHR for obligating the Mexican federal government to protect our staff and take Santiago’s case seriously, nevertheless, I’m concerned by the slow, incomplete steps taken by the Nuevo Leon authorities in their criminal investigation." "Last week our lawyers met again with the Nuevo Leon attorney general’s office," Velasquez continued, "and it’s clear that the authorities are still not considering the economic-political motive behind Santiago’s murder."

In February, Santiago Rafael Cruz joined the Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC) office in Monterrey México. His job involved helping H2A "guest workers" going to work in the fields of North Carolina and other locations. He investigated and helped resolve grievances concerning abuses in the recruiting systems and employment conditions.

On Monday, April 9, Cruz was found tied up and beaten to death in the FLOC office. Testimony by witnesses who found the body, indicate that he was tortured by more than one individual in the early hours of the morning. There were no signs of robbery.

Since opening the office in Monterrey, there has been constant harassment. The office has been broken into several times when files and equipment were destroyed. FLOC staff has been threatened with deportation by Mexican authorities. Their operations have been attacked in the local media for "destabilizing" Mexican businesses (labor recruiters).

The United Farm Workers urges our supporters to respond to FLOC's plea to ensure a prompt and thorough investigation of the murder of Santiago Rafael Cruz, one of FLOC’s staff members in Monterrey, Mexico.

Click here to send an email to the government of the State of Nuevo Leon >>

News release from Noel Damico, Campaign for Fair Food, PC(USA)

The Rev. Noelle Damico, Associate for Fair Food
Campaign for Fair Food, PC(USA)

McDonald’s Truth Tour heads for Chicago

Momentum for the McDonald’s Truth Tour builds as the workers prepare to leave Immokalee on April 7th. Presbyterians across the country are hosting workers and many are coming to Chicago. All the latest info on the tour stops, buses to Chicago and events in Chicago is available at http://www.ciw-online.org/2007truthtour/index.html

Read the Presbyterian News Service story to get a sense of the excitement: http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2007/07191.htm .

In this update you’ll find

1. Shareholder’s resolution calling for human rights in McDonald’s Supply Chain moves forward at the SEC

2. Holy Week and Easter lectionary and worship resources on fair food

3. Special Thanks to PC(USA) Congregations from CIW * please pray for these congregations and leaders.

Peace,
Noelle
 

SHAREHOLDER RESOLUTION MOVES FORWARD

In a March 22nd letter to McDonald’s Corporation from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the SEC announced that it was "unable to concur" with McDonald’s attempts to exclude a shareholder resolution submitted by CIW allies from the McDonald’s 2007 Proxy Statement. As such, McDonald’s shareholders should have the opportunity to vote on the resolution, entitled "Human Rights Standards," at the McDonald's Annual Meeting in May.

The resolution urges the Board of Directors to adopt, implement, and enforce a revised company-wide Code of Conduct, inclusive of suppliers and sub-contractors, based on the International Labor Organization's ("ILO") Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and other relevant ILO conventions.

The PC(USA)’s Campaign for Fair Food, as well as the primary filers (the Adrian Dominican Sisters and the AFL-CIO Reserve Fund), and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers encourage all institutional and individual shareholders to vote for this resolution as a way of advancing farmworkers’ human rights and socially responsible purchasing within the McDonald’s Corporation and its supply chain. Read more at http://ciw-online.org/news.html .

HOLY WEEK AND EASTER FAIR FOOD RESOURCES

Don’t miss the excellent Biblical commentary on the lectionary and the struggle for fair food by Rev. Gary Cook of Louisville and Rev. Susan Rice of Naples, FL at http://pcusa.org/fairfood/resources.htm as well as Holy Week resources by Interfaith Action and the CIW at http://allianceforfairfood.org/faith.html


THANKS TO PC(USA) CONGREGATIONS FOR TRUTH TOUR SUPPORT

The CIW wishes to thank all of the Presbyterian congregations who are providing hospitality, food, hosting educational and worship opportunities on the Truth Tour route and organizing buses to Chicago. Please keep the following congregations and people in your prayers this week:

Farmworkers protest decision outside hamburger company's HQ    [3-3-07]

Fast-food giant Burger King has told the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) that it will not pay a penny more per pound to farmworkers harvesting its tomatoes.

The CIW, a Florida-based group of farmworkers receiving support from the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and other faith groups, is calling on some of the nation's largest fast-food companies to do their part to improve wages and working conditions for the laborers who pick their tomatoes.

PC(USA) General Assembly Stated Clerk Clifton Kirkpatrick said in a statement to Burger King in January that 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," Kirkpatrick wrote.

Kirkpatrick said in his letter that Burger King is "morally and ethically" obligated to correct the deficiencies because the company profits from the exploitation of the workers.

We strongly encourage our allies from across the country to join us in Chicago this April and to participate in the colorful carnival and parade action. Groups are encouraged to organize their own floats and delegations for this action. Contact workers@ciw-online.org for more info.

The Rev. Noelle Damico, Associate for Fair Food
ndamico@ctr.pcusa.org
NY office: 631-751-7076
Cellphone: 631-371-9877
www.pcusa.org/fairfood

The Campaign for Fair Food is a Ministry of the Presbyterian Hunger Program, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

PC(USA) Campaign for Fair Food
17 Dyke Rd.
Setauket, NY 11733

PVJ's Facebook page

Mitch Trigger, PVJ's Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!

Voices of Sophia blog

Heather Reichgott, who has created this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:

John Harris’ Summit to Shore blogspot

John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive

Got more blogs to recommend?

Plan now for our 2010 Ghost Ranch Seminar!

GHOST RANCH SEMINAR

July 26-August 1, 2010

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