Thursday, February 1st, 2007

A Reply to “Winning Hearts and Stomachs”

Sean Sellers
sean(a t)sfalliance.org
Wed, 31 Jan 2007

Mr. Mallaby,

In your recent article, “Winning Hearts and Stomachs” (Washington Post, Jan. 29, 2007), you write that McDonald’s has, “teamed up with the University of Miami to improve conditions for tomato pickers….”

I would like to direct you to the website of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (www.ciw-online.org), an internationally- recognized, award-winning human rights organization comprised of the very workers that pick McDonald’s tomatoes. The CIW won a four-year national boycott against Taco Bell in 2005, which is what initially alerted McDonald’s to the labor abuses in its tomato suppliers operations. But instead of working with the CIW to expand the important Taco Bell agreement throughout the fast-food industry, McDonald’s instead partnered with agricultural industry lobbyists, attempting to undermine the fragile precedents for change. At this point, this story has been well documented by journalists, scholars, and the workers themselves.

Just within the last week, two stories have broke that completely shatter McDonald’s pretense of social responsibility in its tomato supply chain. You can read both of these stories at www.ciw- online.org/news.html

It is difficult to escape the conclusion that McDonald’s efforts with the University of Miami are more about PR than actually improving working conditions for tomato pickers. For this reason, McDonald’s can expect more controversy and negative publicity in the weeks, months, and possibly years ahead.

Sincerely,
Sean Sellers