Coalition of Imokalee Workers

The Oakland Institute Reporter

HELP END SWEATSHOP CONDITIONS & MODERN-DAY SLAVERY IN THE AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRY
An Action Alert from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers

Click following link to sign national petition (http://www.fairfoodnation.org/petition).

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a grassroots farmworker organization based in South Florida, has launched a national petition campaign calling on Burger King and other food industry leaders to improve the wages and working conditions of farmworkers, and to support an industry-wide effort to end human rights violations and modern-day slavery in Florida's fields.

Farmworkers in Florida face the following conditions:

* POVERTY WAGES rooted in an antiquated piece-rate system that hasn't changed significantly in nearly 30 years;
* LONG HOURS WITH NO OVERTIME PAY;
* DAMAGE TO BODY & SOUL from back-breaking labor;
* NO EMPLOYMENT BENEFITS such as sick days, paid leave, health insurance or pension;
* PHYSICAL ABUSE & WAGE FRAUD by crewleaders, supervisors, and growers;
* RETALIATION against those who protest or organize; and
* CASES OF MODERN-DAY SLAVERY, with six successful federal prosecutions of farm labor operations for servitude in Florida over the past decade involving over 1000 workers.

The CIW's petition comes on the bicentennial of the abolition of the British Slave trade (2007) and that of the ban on the importation of slaves into the US (2008) and echoes key strategies used by earlier abolitionists, including the mass petition campaign and the consumer boycott. The petitions will serve as notice that those who sign are "prepared to stop patronizing Burger King now, and other food industry leaders in the future, should they fail to take the necessary steps.

By leveraging their high-volume purchasing power to extract the lowest prices possible, Burger King and other food industry leaders profit from and play an active role in creating the miserable conditions in Florida's fields.

Please add your voice to the growing call to end modern-day slavery and the everyday sweatshop conditions that enable slavery to flourish in the 21st century. Sign the petition here (http://www.fairfoodnation.org/petition) and forward this message far and wide.

Petition drive ends on April 25, 2008.

For more info., visit http://www.ciw-online.org/2008_Petitions/index.html.