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Wendy’s & Publix: Join the Fair Food Program

Boycott Wendy’s

Every day, millions of migrant farmworkers do the back-breaking work of harvesting the fruits and vegetables that feed the entire country and, in turn, generate billions in profits for the trillion-dollar retail food industry. Yet despite the essential nature of their labor, for generations farmworkers have endured extreme poverty, sexual assault and modern-day slavery.

For over seven years, hundreds of thousands of farmworkers with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and their consumer allies have demanded verifiable protections against sexual violence, forced labor and other human rights abuses in Wendy’s supply chain by joining the Presidential Medal-winning Fair Food Program. All of the largest fast-food companies — McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, Taco Bell and Chipotle — along with nine other major food retailers, from Whole Foods to Walmart, have joined. All except Wendy’s.

The very workers that Wendy’s decision-makers have turned their backs on for years are the same workers responsible for the company’s financial health, when all is said and done. Instead of finding excuse after excuse not to join the most widely respected human rights program in agriculture today, it’s time for Wendy’s to partner with the CIW and invest in real, enforceable health, safety, and human rights standards in its supply chain. Wendy’s: join the Fair Food Program now!

What you can do:

Publix Campaign

Since 2009, Publix has stubbornly refused to join the Fair Food Program and to do its part to help improve the lives of the farmworkers who pick its tomatoes. Besides being rooted in Florida, and purchasing a tremendous volume of tomatoes from the local industry, Publix is the 8th largest privately-owned corporation in the U.S., with supermarkets across Florida, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Tennessee. It is high time for Publix to come to the table with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and join the Fair Food Program!

What you can do:

Hannaford Supermarkets: Join Milk With Dignity

Vermont dairy farmworkers are fighting for the human rights to dignified work and quality housing. The Milk with Dignity Program invites corporations, which are profiting from the dairy industry, to take responsibility for abusive conditions in their supply chain. This can be achieved  by ensuring that their milk is sourced in compliance with farmworker-defined and enforced Milk with Dignity Standards. Additionally, profits in the dairy industry must be redistributed to both the farmworker and farmer. The program requires participating corporations to pay a premium that is shared between workers and farmers. The Milk with Dignity Standards Council is the third party body which monitors and enforces the Milk with Dignity Standards modeled after the groundbreaking work of the Fair Food Standards Council.

Dairy workers are asking Hannaford Supermarkets to take responsibility and ensure fair and safe conditions for farmworkers. And we need you to demand the same: Hannaford brand milk must be free from human rights abuses! Farmworkers like are demanding safety and protection. And Hannaford can provide it by joining the Milk with Dignity program!

Hannaford continues to shirk its responsibility, and farmworkers need you to take action:

What you can do:

• • Send an email to Hannaford CEO Mike Vail urging the company to join Milk with Dignity
  • Read through this Action Toolkit for more information on the campaign
  • Print out this flyer and give it to a manager or customer service representative the next time you shop at Hannaford
  • Ask Hannaford customers to fill out these postcards (email info@migrantjustice.net if you’re interested)
  • If you’re part of an organization, use this guide to write an endorsement letter for the campaign

H&M, Primark, Nike: Do You #PayYourWorkers?

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit Europe and the US and stores began to close, brands and retailers responded by pushing the risk down the supply chain. They did this by cancelling all orders placed before the crisis, some of which were already ready to be shipped. This meant that factories, which fronted the costs for fabric and labour, were often left without the money to pay their workers. Research shows this is leading to large-scale dismissals of workers, often without legally mandated severance or furlough pay. To their credit, some brands and retailers have committed to pay in full for all apparel orders already in production or completed, greatly reducing harm to suppliers and workers. Others have not made this commitment and are either canceling all orders or imposing cancellations or rebates on a supplier-by-supplier basis. See the full list of which brands have not paid here.

Garment workers have been left unpaid, jobless, or received only a percentage of their usual poverty wages after global fashion brands refused to pay for over $16 billion worth of goods. Now workers are owed at least $3.19 to $5.79 billion for the first three months of the pandemic alone. As the primary profit makers in the value chain, brands must take responsibility.