Tuesday, February 13th, 2007
We’re Headed to Chicago
From the Student/Farmworker Alliance:
Excitement builds for Chicago mobilizations – Get on the Bus!
2007 McDonald’s Truth Tour and major Chicago mobilizations quickly approaching!
- Major rally outside McDonald’s global headquarters - Friday, 4/13, Oak Brook, IL
- Carnaval and Parade for Fair Food, Real Rights, and Dignity - Saturday, 4/14, downtown Chicago
Feb. 1, 2007 - In recent years, many of us have climbed into cars, vans and buses to go to anti-war marches, global justice summits, and movement conferences.
The time has come, once again, for another such caravan of justice, this one leading from all points of the country to the Windy City, Chicago – home of fast-food giant McDonald’s. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has called two days of historic mobilization for farmworker justice in the Golden Arches’ backyard capping off this year’s Truth Tour.
The Campaign for Fair Food – demanding that McDonald’s take responsibility for the decades of grinding poverty and degradation in its tomato supply chain – is quickly hurtling toward a decisive turning point. Farmworkers from Immokalee and their allies are going up against one of the world’s largest corporations to demand the dignity of workers and consumers alike. Will you be there?
Just this week, long-time McDonald’s supplier Ag-Mart was in the news yet again, this time for allegedly failing to pay tomato pickers minimum wage. How much longer will McDonald’s keep its head in the sand while the fiction of social responsibility in its tomato suppliers’ fields continues to crumble around it? The answer, in part, lies in your hands.
This April, join us for a pivotal and historic convergence. For two years, we’ve been patient while McD’s stalled. Now is it’s time to show our collective strength and turn out the largest possible numbers in Chicago. Keep reading for resources and ideas on how to mobilize your community to come to Chicago:
- Para más información, haz clic aquí.
- Download the mobilization guide here
- Download an outreach flyer in English and Spanish.
- Download and share the radio PSA in English and Spanish.
- Download and share two great videos – ¿Quién Sigue?, bringing to life last year’s exciting Chicago action; and With These Hands, a new short featuring the hands at the base of the $100 billion fast-food industry.
- Participate in the Midwest Encuentro - A networking and strategy gathering of student, community and labor allies of the CIW, Feb. 23-24 in Chicago. Flyer with more info here.
- Come for the action, stay for the conference – We are working closely with the The 4th Latin American Solidarity Conference to make sure conference attendees can make it to the Carnaval. Please consider checking out LASC while in Chicago.
- The 2007 Student Labor Week of Action from March 28 to April 4 will be a perfect opportunity for some education and action building up to the Truth Tour.
- Confirmed acts for the Carnaval in Chicago on April 14 include: Olmeca - Son del Centro - Las Krudas - HecOne - Spiritchild - Nuestro Tambó - and Ballet Folklórico Azul y Oro with more big names from the world of socially conscious music to be announced soon.
- Looking for SFA contacts in your area? Get in touch with a nearby steering committee member and browse our local contacts here.
Please contact us if you need ideas, materials, or other resources to help mobilize your community to the historic actions in Chicago. See you in April!