Posted on 11/25/2005 7:26:00 AM PST by paudio
The head of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. has endorsed a call for McDonalds to improve working conditions and raise the pay of its tomato pickers.
In a letter released on Wednesday, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the two-million-member denomination, challenged the fast food chain giant to “put an end to human rights violations” by bringing an “adequate solution to the grievous conditions and sub-poverty wages of farmworkers.”
"Farmworkers are explicitly excluded from the National Labor Relations Act, which denies them the right to organize, the right to negotiate with their employers, and the right to appeal grievances to the National Labor Relations Board," Kirpatrick wrote. "Current law does not provide farmworkers with overtime pay or secure other benefits such as healthcare."
The PC(USA), the nation’s largest and wealthiest Presbyterian denomination, just recently ended a successful three-year boycott of Taco Bell and Yum! Brands Inc. over the working conditions of immigrant tomato pickers in Florida. The PC(USA) was also the first mainline denomination to join the boycott and stand by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers – “a human rights award-winning, worker-led community organization of Mexican, Guatemalan and Haitian laborers.”
In March 2005, Yum! Brands consented and nearly doubled the per-pound wage of tomato pickers.
According to Kirkpatrick, workers who pick tomatoes in Florida for McDonalds still earn just 40 to 45 cents for every 32-pound bucket they pick and haul – the same wage they received more than 25 years ago.
“McDonald's has a clear moral responsibility to take leadership to assure just working conditions and compensation for the very persons who provide the products which are at the heart of its operation,” Kirkpatrick wrote. “Any corporation which benefits through the exploitation of others is gravely implicated in such exploitation and has a moral and ethical responsibility to end that exploitation.”>
Is this the same Presbyterian church that is vehemently opposing the Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act? What if the unborn child in question is an illegal and his/her parents are picking tomatoes for McDonald's? Will he then get a pain-free abortion?
I'm just surprised they even call those transparent, pink things on McDonald's burgers tomatoes. They most definately don't TASTE like tomatoes.
Did they send a copy of this to John Kerry-Heinz?
I'm sure all that catsup is made from union-picked fruit.
It's been a while, but my experience with McD, is that they already do as much as they can to conserve on their use of tomatoes. You should NOT be able to see through a slice of tomato!
Whatever happened to saving souls?
I didn't realize that Taco Bell was the preferred eatery establishment of the wealthy ...
McDonald's has tomato pickers? That sounds unlikely.
You are not kidding. The PC-USA has become the Episcopalian side of the Presbyterian church.
The PC-USA is more like the Communist side of the Presbyterian Church.
You're right. Wasn't Christ's charge to His Church to spread the Gospel throughout the world? Instead, groups such as the ECUSA and the ELCA spend their time and money on promoting and advocating liberal causes, not to mention humanism. And they wonder why their numbers and influence are shrinking...
Of course, PCUSA leader Clifton Kirkpatrick does nothing without the prior advocacy by the Communist Party.
Note at:
http://www.cpusa.org/article/articleview/95/1/53/
First published 04/28/2001 by the Communist Party, USA
Proposed resolution submitted by the Florida District to the 27th National Convention of the Communist Party USA
WHEREAS: Farm workers in the Florida's tomato-picking industry have been struggling since 1995 for a decent living wage; .....
Now, now...let's not smear the Commies... LOL
So McDonalds hires tomato pickers...hummm. Sounds like another idiot third party boycott in the making, like the grape pickers stikes against Welch's company back in the 1960's...dumb, dumb, dumb!
McDonald's will probably sign the agreement to get these people out of their hair. Then they'll quietly start buying their tomatoes from Chile, and thus cause the US pickers to lose their jobs.
Ok---LOL
How about the Socialists?
Note that PCUSA leader Kirkpatrick is following the lead of the Socialist Party of Florida who posted a McDonalds' alert on Sunday 01 May 2005.
http://www.socialistpartyflorida.org/news.php?extend.5
1. Action Alert: Contact McDonald's!
Demand they follow Taco Bell's lead, meet with CIW & end human rights abuses in their supply chain!
The successful conclusion of the the Taco Bell Boycott sets a tremendous precedent for social responsibility in the fast-food industry. But Taco Bell is only one major buyer among many, and the impact of its agreement with CIW will fall only on those workers who pick tomatoes for Taco Bell. On March 8th, at the press conference that ended the Taco Bell Boycott, CIW member Lucas Benitez addressed the vast network of boycott allies directly, saying, “Our work together is not done. Now we must convince other companies that they have the power to change the way they do business and the way workers are treated.”
Right now, we have a window of opportunity to make our voices heard in the boardrooms of other fast-food corporate giants. Write to McDonald’s today and urge them to commit their brand and market power to making real the principles established in the Taco Bell agreement. We don't have much time left before summer, so let's make these next few weeks count!
* Organize a letter drive on your campus or in your community
* Forward this action alert to friends, family, and listservs
* For a sample letter, complete with contact information and mailing address, click here:
www.sfalliance.org/Resources/sfa%20letter.pdf
2. Fall 2005 Internship Positions available!
Alas, the Student/Farmworker Alliance is looking for interns for the 2005 Fall semester to live and work in Immokalee. This is a great way to learn first-hand about the injustice in the agricultural industry and to participate in the on-the-ground organizing of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and SFA in their campaign for social justice. Earn course credit while you help grow the movement for fair food and support the launching of a new CIW community center! Housing and a modest stipend are available. Interested? Contact Sean immediately at sean@sfalliance.org, 239-821-5481.
Down with the bosses,
Student/Farmworker Alliance
organize@sfalliance.org
www.sfalliance.org
239.657.8311
Posted by flsocialist on Sunday 01 May 2005
Ok How about the anarchists? LOL
Once again, Kirkpatrick, leader of the PCUSA follows the anarchists in boycotting Taco Bell. This was posted on
http://www.ainfos.ca/01/mar/ainfos00459.html
A - I n f o s a multi-lingual news service by, for, and about anarchists on Sat, 24 Mar 2001
Consumer Power through the internet!!
Date: Fri, 23 Mar 2001 00:11:51 -0500 a-infos@ainfos.ca
O.K. folks, it's time to show the world the power consumers have to change
corporate immorality and exploitation!!!!!! ......
Pathetic.
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