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MIAMI
- A November 30th demonstration of more than 1500 farmworkers and supporters
marched in Miami to the national headquarters of
the giant Burger King corporation to demand that it pay farmworkers
in Immokalee, Florida one more penny a
pound to pick tomatoes and improve working conditions. Observers have
called conditions in this Central Florida
town, "modern day slavery." Many of the Miami
marchers wore T-shirts with "Exploitation King" imposed
over Burger King logos.
"Thanks to this big giant, all of us
are here today to demand change. But, the bigger they are the harder
they fall," said Lucas Benitez , co-founder of the Coalition of
Immokalee Workers (CIW). The march was organized by the 4,000
member-strong CIW, which was founded in 1993.
A 1-penny per pound raise would be the
farmworker's first since 1978. Propaganda by the Florida
Tomato Growers Association falsely portrays farmworkers as moderately
well-off, making $24,900 per year on average. However, a survey of Department
of Labor records for 2006 reveals that the average
Immokalee farmworker's yearly salary is $10 to $12 thousand -
actually less due to the inclusion of managers and supervisors in the
survey. To earn the minimum wage for a ten-hour day a worker must
harvest over 2 ½ tons of tomatoes!
The workforce is roughly 50% Mexican and
30% Guatemalan, including many Haitians and African Americans.
The march was supported by several unions
such as SEIU, UNITE HERE, TEAMSTERS, CWA, and others. Joining them
were students and church groups, many from out of town (see the
excellent CIW website www.ciw-online. org for photos
and more). The Miami rally was preceded by some 30
rallies in October and November at Burger King (BK) locations
throughout the U.S.
First along the 9-mile march route was the
big investment firm of Goldman Sachs,
which owns one of three controlling blocks of BK stock, a valuable
source of profits during capitalism's ongoing mortgage crisis. Two Goldman
Sachs executives sit on BK's Board of Directors. Over
the last three years BK shares doubled in value. Last year, Lloyd C.
Blankfein, Chief Executive of Goldman Sachs,
earned the largest annual bonus in Wall Street history - based in
large part on farmworker misery.
In answer to BK propaganda, many
farmworkers who couldn't come to Miami out
of fear of losing their jobs, sent instead their worn shoes, which
were placed in a street meridian across from BK headquarters next to
a sign saying, "Doubt Our Poverty. Walk in our shoes."
So far, BK hasn't budged on a CIW agreement
that includes paying growers an extra penny a pound and a mechanism
insuring the raise goes exclusively to workers. The Florida Tomato Growers Association (FTGA)
called CIW agreements "near un American" and likened them
to "racketeering. "
Fast food chains purchase vast amounts of fruits and vegetables from
growers in capitalist competition for the lowest prices, determined
largely by labor costs. BK claims it cannot insist growers follow
so-called "fair labor" standards. BK told the St.
Petersburg Times, ""Florida growers have a right to run
their businesses how they see fit."
But, BK's posturing is a fraud. As recently as March, BK announced
strict new rules on how meatpacking suppliers treat chickens and
hogs. Apparently, BK racists find chickens and hogs worthy of humane
treatment, not immigrant farmworkers!
However, in 2005, fast food giant Taco Bell, owned by Yum
Brands, succumbed to a CIW agreement, after a national
CIW "Campaign for Fair Food" called "Boot the
Bell,"which included hunger strikes by workers and students. McDonald's
folded last April.
Despite this progress, the reactionary FTGA
has announced a $100,000 fine for growers who agree to pay the extra
penny. Behind the scenes, the FTGA and BK has worked to undermine CIW
agreements. Paying the penny more would cost the multi-billion dollar
BK $250,000 a year. BK and the FTGA both insist they resist the
penny raise because of "principle," not cost.
Since the 1980's, farmworkers, like the
immigrant workforce as a whole, face intensified exploitation as
capitalist competition become ever-more brutal. Farmworkers,
moreover, aren't covered by the 1935 National Labor Relations Act's
right to collective bargaining, overtime pay provisions and many
other rights "given" most workers.
Since its founding, the CIW has organized
several strikes, marches and hunger strikes, which it says were
instrumental in halting the decline in wages, bringing workers back
to pre-1980's levels throughout Florida.
The CIW also combats the sickening growth
of farmworker "involuntary servitude," enforced by
beatings, sexual violence and sometimes murder. Its' efforts have
resulted in the release of 1,500 farmworkers from outright slavery. A
CIW lawsuit helped to land one crew leader a 30-year prison sentence.
For its work, the CIW received a 2007 award from the prestigious London
"Anti-Slavery International" at its' 200th anniversary
convention.
Marc Rodriguez, staff worker for the
Student Farmworker Alliance based in Immokalee,
told Socialist Action, "Burger King and the growers are working
together to resist the demands of the farmworkers and take away gains
with Taco Bell and McDonalds. This campaign will
escalate."
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