FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Stated Clerk Commends the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and McDonald’s Corporation on Forging an Historic Agreement to Advance Farmworkers’ Human Rights
On behalf of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) I commend the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the McDonald’s Corporation, and McDonald’s suppliers on the historic agreement that they have forged to improve wages and guarantee human rights for farmworkers harvesting tomatoes in the fields of Florida. The farmworkers have carried forward their campaign for fair food with integrity and dedication and the McDonald’s Corporation has taken a leadership role in moving the fast-food industry toward more just way of doing business. The Presbyterian Church is particularly grateful for the role that the Carter Center has played in fostering dialogue among the parties that led to this significant agreement.
Immediately, farmworkers will receive from McDonald’s a penny more per pound for tomatoes they harvest. Further the CIW will work with McDonald’s to strengthen its code of conduct for suppliers and develop a third-party mechanism for monitoring conditions in the fields and investigating workers’ complaints of abuse.
The hard-working women and men of Immokalee have labored for stagnant poverty wages for more than 25 years and this significant wage increase is a meaningful demonstration of the importance of their labor to McDonald’s products. Lamentably, in our country farmworkers are not accorded the same rights as workers in other industries. This agreement, which ensures farmworkers’ voice through the CIW partnership with McDonald’s, advances in principle and in practice the right of farmworkers to participate in decisions affecting their pay and working conditions. These are indeed historic gains.
This substantial agreement builds upon the CIW-Yum! Brands agreement of March 2005 and lays the cornerstone for a momentous change within the fast-food industry. As we celebrate this agreement in the Presbyterian Church I take this opportunity call upon other fast-food corporations to join McDonald’s and Yum! Brands in working with the CIW, to ensure true and lasting advances in human rights for farmworkers laboring in the Florida tomato fields.
Our church, along with Christians around the world, is currently celebrating the season of Easter — a time when we praise the God who brings life from death and who makes a way when there is no way. Truly this agreement reflects the “good news to the poor” that was at the heart of Jesus’ ministry and is at the center of our life in faith. May it also be a harbinger of a new day in the fast-food and agricultural industries when the rights of all God’s people are respected.
The Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), with denominational offices in Louisville, Kentucky, has approximately 2.4 million members, 11,100 congregations and 14,000 ordained and active ministers.
Contact: The Rev. Noelle Damico, Associate for Fair Food, PC(USA), 631-371-9877, ndamico@ctr.pcusa.org
