Thursday, February 22nd, 2007
President of the National Council of Churches, Bishop Manz to join CIW for April Truth Tour
Hello everyone,
There is some exciting news as we prepare for the CIW’s upcoming McDonald’s Truth Tour!
The Rev. Michael Livingston, President of the National Council of Churches, Catholic Bishop John Manz, Kerry Kennedy, and Dolores Huerta, co-founder of the United Farm Workers, will all join CIW farmworkers this April, either for the rally at McDonald’s Headquarters on Friday, April 13th or the parade for Fair Food in downtown Chicago on Saturday, April 14th.
We invite you to join CIW farmworkers in the Chicago area on April 13 & 14th! For two years now, we all have been patiently encouraging McDonald’s to improve sub-poverty wages and abuses in its tomato supply chain and McDonald’s has steadfastly refused while farmworkers continue to suffer. Make your plans now to join the CIW at McDonald’s Headquarters this April for historic actions to call on McDonald’s to do the right thing! Buses will be leaving from cities across the country to join the CIW in ushering in a new phase in the McDonald’s Campaign and we invite you can join us as well! For more information or help with logistics for transportation and lodging, contact info(at)interfaithact.org or 239-986-0688.
Last week, Reuters released a great article about the upcoming McDonald’s Truth Tour, picked up in news sources around the globe, entitled “Florida farmworkers take aim at McDonald’s.” The article’s author further exposed the absurdity of McDonald’s claims, calculating that farmworkers would have to pick more than half a TON of tomatoes per hour to earn the wages McDonald’s reports in its study. Read the full article as carried in the Washington Post.
On another note, the CIW held a press conference at Burger King’s Headquarters in Miami, FL last Thursday in response to Burger King’s announcement that it will not improve farmworker wages, instead offering to train farmworkers to work in Burger King restaurants. Perhaps Burger King plans on removing tomatoes from its sandwiches when there is nobody left to pick its tomatoes?
Members of the Miami faith community joined the CIW for Thursday’s press conference and are planning further actions in the coming weeks. Find pictures and details from the Burger King press conference, as well as the Associated Press news article at: http://www.ciw-online.org/news.html
Thank you for your continued support! We hope to see you in April in the Chicago area!
Brigitte, Sarah, and Melody
Interfaith Action of Southwest Florida
http://www.allianceforfairfood.org/faith.html