FARMWORKERS CHALLENGE McDONALD’S

The Coalition of Immokalee will conduct their McDonald’s Truth Tour on
April 7 - 17. The Tour is part of their campaign to pressure fast food
giant McDonald’s to treat farmworkers with respect, require truly humane
labor standards of its suppliers, and pay a fairer price for tomatoes.

BACKGROUND
Farmworkers who pick tomatoes for the fast food industry are among this
country's most exploited workers. Unlike most of us, they have no right
to form unions, overtime pay, or have benefits of any kind. And these
workers are stuck with subpoverty wages, making 40 to 50 cents per
32-pound bucket of tomatoes, on average $10,000 a year. Fast food giant
McDonald's could make a huge difference in the lives of these
farmworkers.

Public relations efforts, such as McDonald's faulty "study" of farm
worker wages, have not changed that. McDonald's must work with the CIW
to improve wages and enforce a meaningful code of conduct for workers in
its tomato supply chain.

Such action by a fast food company would not be without precedent. As a
result of tireless efforts by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Taco
Bell agreed to take responsibility for the abysmal conditions faced by
farmworkers in its supply chain in 2005. Taco Bell agreed to establish
an enforceable code of conduct and pay a penny more per pound for its
tomatoes – nearly doubling workers' wages.

McDonald’s, the world's largest restaurant company, prides itself as a
leader in corporate social responsibility, even recently moving to
purchase only fair-trade coffee for over 650 of its restaurants.
Likewise, McDonald's requires its Happy Meal toy suppliers in China to
respect internationally recognized labor rights, including the right to
organize and overtime pay. Yet for these US  farmworkers, McDonald's
takes the position that those fundamental rights are too much to ask.

McDonald's net profits in 2006 were $3.5 billion, a 36 percent increase
from 2005. The fast food leader spends more than $1 billion in
advertising every year, and even recently gave its CEO an $8 million
bonus. Yet the company wants us to believe it can't pay a penny more per
pound to keep these workers out of poverty. The same workers who have
earned virtually the same wages for 30 years! Does that sound right to
you?

THE TOUR
The CIW McDonald’s Truth Tour will be making stops Venice, FL, Atlanta,
GA, Louisville, KY, Louisville, KY, Champaign, IL, Chicago, IL, Oak
Brook, IL, Nashville, TN, Birmingham, AL, Tallahassee, FL, Tampa, FL,
Immokalee, FL.

On Friday, April 13, they will conduct a major rally in front of
McDonald's global headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois including Tom
Morello and Zack de la Rocha of Rage Against the Machine, Dolores
Huerta, cofounder of the United Farmworkers, Chicago Bishop John Manz,
John Sweeney, Pres., AFL-CIO, National Council of Churches President
Rev. Michael Livingston, US Rep. Jan Schakowsky, Hot 8 Brass Band of New
Orleans and many others.

On Saturday, April 14, they will conduct a Carnaval and Parade for Fair
Food, Real Rights and Dignity in downtown Chicago.

For more info, visit the website of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers
at http://www.ciw-online.org/

ACTIONS
1. Sign the petition at
http://action.americanrightsatwork.org/campaign/araw_mcdonalds/ineeu8e2h5856ij
which urges McDonald’s to follow Taco Bells’ lead in this simple path to
justice by partnering with CIW in creating respect for farmworkers,
requiring truly humane labor standards of its suppliers, and paying a
fairer price for tomatoes.

2. Make every effort to join the historic rally in Oak Brook, Illinois.
Get on a bus to Chicago from over 25 states by visiting
http://www.ciw-online.org/2007truthtour/support.html

3. Volunteer to help with meals, shelter, supplies and event planning in
tour cities and in Chicago by contacting workers@ciw-online.org

4. Listen to Immokalee worker Noberto Jimenez and Julia Perkins on “The
8th Day” radio show at
http://www.8thdaycenter.org/resources/radioshow.html