WHAT: Members of the faith communities from Sanibel and the Ft. Myers area, in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and its ally, Alliance for Fair Food, will hold a public vigil as part of a nationwide protest which calls on Wendy’s to join the CIW/AFF Fair Food Program.
WHERE: The public sidewalk adjacent to Wendy’s at 14890 6 Mile Cypress Pkwy, Ft. Myers, near the intersection of Rt. 41 and 6 Mile Cypress Pkwy.
WHEN: JANUARY 18, 2018, at 4:00 -5:00 p.m.
For over three years, farmworkers and consumers have been demanding that Wendy’s join its major competitors – Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Subway and Burger King and such national food retailers as Wal-Mart, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's – in participating in the Fair Food Program. Yet, Wendy's has instead consciously and shamefully opted to profit from farmworker poverty and abuse, continuing to cling to the low-bar standards of the past when presented with an acclaimed and proven alternative.
Rather than participate in what was called the "best workplace-monitoring program” in the U.S. per the New York Times, Wendy's ran from responsibility and abandoned the Florida tomato industry altogether. Wendy’s shifted its tomato purchases from compliant farms in Florida to Mexico, where workers face widespread labor abuses, including sexual harassment and assault, without access to protections.
Members of the faith community will speak at the vigil and a letter of protest will be delivered to the store manager by a small number of community representatives
Representatives from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Alliance for Fair Food addressed our July, 2017 membership meeting.
The Alliance for Fair Food urges a boycott of Wendy's stating, "For over three years, farmworkers and consumers have been demanding that Wendy’s join its major competitors – Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Subway and Burger King – in participating in the Fair Food Program. Yet, Wendy's has instead consciously and shamefully opted to profit from farmworker poverty and abuse, continuing to cling to the low-bar standards of the past when presented with an acclaimed and proven alternative.
Rather than participate in what was called the "best workplace-monitoring program” in the U.S. in the New York Times, Wendy's ran from responsibility and abandoned the Florida tomato industry altogether.
In response to increasing pressure from consumers to join the Fair Food Program, Wendy's released a new code of conduct for its suppliers, a perfect example of the failed, widely-discredited approach to corporate social responsibility that is completely void of effective enforcement mechanisms to protect farmworkers’ human rights."
