Make ending Modern-day Slavery Quiznos New Year's Resolution

Make ending Modern-day Slavery Quiznos New Year's Resolution...

By making OUR New Year's Resolution to intensify our actions!

WHAT: Protest & Rally in solidarity with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers

WHEN: Monday, January 3, 11:30-1:00pm

WHERE: Outside Quiznos Corporate Headquarters - 1001 17th St.
(17th & Curtis, downtown Denver)

For months, Quiznos has promised that it would soon be joining in agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to improve the wages and working conditions of farmworkers who pick tomatoes bought by the company. It is time to hold Quiznos to its word. Our New Year's Resolution is to escalate the campaign against Quiznos until the sub shop resolves to end human rights abuses in its supply chain.

Join Denver Fair Food and the Student/Farmworker Alliance to demand that Quiznos make Fair Food a reality!

BACKGROUND:
Florida farmworkers who pick tomatoes are among the nation's most exploited workers: they earn sub-poverty wages, have no right to form unions or to over-time pay, lack traditional employment benefits such as health, sick leave or pensions, and have not received a significant raise in nearly 30 years. At the current rate, a Florida tomato picker must harvest over TWO TONS just to earn the equivalent of minimum wage for a typical 10 hour. In the most extreme situations workers are held in modern-day slavery and forced to work against their will.

In 2001, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers - a grassroots organization of migrant farmworkers based in Florida - and their allies launched the Campaign for Fair Food, calling on retail food industry leaders to address the egregious working conditions and poverty stemming from these companies' high-volume/low-cost purchasing practices. As a result, the CIW has reached historic agreements with McDonald's, Burger King, Subway and others to directly improve farmworker wages and working conditions and set new standards for social responsibility in Florida agriculture.

Despite these breakthroughs, Quiznos - who profits from the exploitation of farmworkers due to the sheer volume of its tomato purchases - has yet to take responsibility. While there has been discussions with the CIW, those talks continue to drag on because Quiznos won't agree to the same Fair Food Code of Conduct that the entire Florida tomato industry has already adopted. Visit ciw-online.org for more info.

Two blog posts about our October Quiznos action

Our last action outside Quiznos corporate headquarters may have been a couple of months ago but we still wanted to share some of the great coverage it got. So here are two blog posts written by folks at Change.org.

First off there was this great peice by Amanda Kloer:

Students Protest Quiznos' Unfair Food with Britney Spears Flash Mob
Here's an excerpt:

Move over, Glee cast — you're being overshadowed by farm workers' rights advocates. The Student/Farmworker Alliance recently choreographed their own Britney Spears song and dance number to rival the ones on Glee. But instead of being executed by a team of television stars, this one was done guerrilla style by a sidewalk flash mob outside Quiznos headquarters in Denver, Colorado. You can dance to Britney in spirit by signing the petition to tell Quiznos to be bold and stand for slave-free food. [Read more]

And secondly is another excellent post by Gabriela Garcia:
Even Britney Spears Can’t Convince Quiznos to Quit Accepting Farm Worker Exploitation
which features this great quote from Denver Fair Food member Robert McGoey:

"The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is leading a transformation of Florida agriculture from an old system which brutally exploited farm workers to a new paradigm which values and upholds the human rights of workers,” Robert McGoey of Denver Fair Food says. “As a major buyer of tomatoes, Quiznos' purchasing power can either advance this transformation or can hold it back — thus delaying the hopes and dreams of thousands of farm workers.” [Read more]

According to the Change.org webpage each of these articles has been read by thousands of people!

And there have been hundreds of people who have contacted Quiznos to call on the company to ensure fair wages and human rights for farmworkers! You too can send an email to Quiznos by clicking here:
Tell Quiznos to Be Bold and Say No to Slave-Picked Produce

Action Alert! Tell Quiznos: Now is the time for Fair Food!

Take 30 seconds to send an email to Quiznos executives demanding that the company support fair wages and human rights for farmworkers:
Sign the petition here!

With the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange announcing a landmark agreement to extend the CIW's Fair Food principles to over 90% of the Florida tomato industry, the future of fair wages and dignified working conditions for farmworkers is just over the horizon.

However Quiznos continues to stall instead of joining the efforts of the CIW to end sweatshop conditions, sub-poverty wages and modern-day slavery in Florida's tomato fields. Quiznos' stalling is delaying progress toward the more just food industry for which farmworkers have been fighting for so long.

Tell Quiznos that NOW IS THE TIME FOR FAIR FOOD!
Send an email to Quiznos by clicking here!

national Supermarket Week of Action: Denver represents!

The Supermarket Week of Action saw more than 30 actions happen around the country.

With the CIW and the FTGE announcing a landmark agreement to extend the CIW's Fair Food principles to over 90% of the Florida tomato industry, the Harvest of Shame is nearing an end. As we turn the page on this chapter of Florida agricultural history, however, much work remains. The supermarket industry is now the only impediment to a future of fair wages and dignified treatment for farmworkers.

Check out the full multimedia report from the Week of Action on the Student/Farmworker site by clicking below:


And we wanted to also share our Week of Action Photos from Denver. Denver hosted several actions during the week. One unidentified group linked the purchasing practices of Kroger-owned King Soopers with the harsh reality of continued exploitation in the fields with this rather blunt (and very bad-ass) banner drop:


...while at the same time members of Denver Fair Food employed a slightly different tactic by delivering a letter to King Soopers' headquarters. (So let us get this straight: King Soopers is "Colorado's homegrown grocery store" despite being one of dozens of brands owned by Cincinnati-based corporate behemoth Kroger? Hmm...)

Unfortunately, no one from King Soopers was willing to meet with us. But we're undaunted, knowing that King Soopers and Kroger's other brands will be further bomdarded with the message of the Campaign for Fair Food until they finally decide to behave in a socially responsible way.

Elsewhere, other Denver Fair Food members took the message straight to King Soopers' customer - customers were eager to learn the truth behind their produce and to sign postcards calling on Kroger to work with the CIW.



We'd also like to do a shout out to our compas in the Río Grande Valley who reminded Denver-based Quiznos that the sub franchise isn't off the hook, dropping off a manager letter at their local Quiznos restaurant. Indeed the campaign against Quiznos is only growing and spreading for across the nation. And Quiznos can be sure they'll be hearing from us in Denver again soon!


Finally we'll end with this message to the supermarket industry from the Student/Farmworker Alliance:

Farmworkers & consumers to supermarkets: "The world is changing; When will you?"
The CIW's agreement with the FTGE — fruit of 15 years of struggle by farmworkers and their allies — is a landmark moment in the history of agriculture in the US. (Don't miss the media round-up below from coverage of the agreement and Week of Action.)

But the Campaign for Fair Food is far from over. The onus is now clearly on supermarket chains such as Publix, Kroger, Stop & Shop, Giant, Walmart and Trader Joe's to step up and support the higher standards and more fair wages represented by the CIW/FTGE accord with their significant purchasing power. And if the past is any guide, it will ultimately be the organized voice of conscious consumers — taking action alongside Immokalee's farmworkers — that will finally bring the supermarket industry to the table.

Thanks to the hard work of farmworkers in Immokalee, thousands of farmworker allies across the country, nine major food corporations, and, now, almost the entire Florida tomato industry, it's never been easier to support human rights in Florida's fields.

The refusal on the part of supermarket industry leaders to participate in these changes is as indefensible as it is inexplicable.

With every additional retailer that participates, the wage increase and the support for fair standards will grow. Whether or not Publix, Stop & Shop, Kroger and other industry leaders participate makes a real difference in whether or not the men and women who work 10-14 hours a day, 6-7 days a week to harvest this country's food must continue to make the choice between paying rent or buying food; between seeking medical care for workplace injuries or losing their jobs; between supporting their families and having their dignity violated.

Publix, Ahold, Kroger: What side of history will you be on? Will you throw your weight behind the changes underway in Florida's fields today, or will you continue to stand, arms crossed, blocking the path to progress?

One thing's for certain, consumers and farmworker allies will have their say. Save the Date and get ready to join us in the Boston area February 27 and in Tampa on March 5, 2011, as we will make it plain that it's time for Ahold and Publix to be a part of the solution to the Harvest of Shame that has gone on for far too long.

"Harvest of Shame" Revisited - 50 years later

The original "Harvest of Shame" was broadcast on the day after Thanksgiving, 1960. Fifty years later, CBS Evening News returned to Immokalee to revisit Florida's fields and, thanks to the recent advances in the Campaign for Fair Food, found reason for hope. Check out the video above, and then click here to see excerpts from the original documentary.

And when you're done, just take a moment to consider the inexplicable -- some might say infuriating -- refusal of companies like Publix, Ahold, and Kroger to support the process of change that is underway today in Florida's fields.

While the harvest itself may no longer be as shameful as it was when Edward R. Murrow first brought farm labor exploitation to the consciousness of the nation fifty years ago, the attitude of the major supermarket companies certainly is. And, ultimately, it is their attitude that will either hold this movement back -- and so hold farmworkers in continuing and unpardonable poverty and degradation -- or allow justice to truly flourish, and make real the dreams of farmworkers and Fair Food activists across the country of an agricultural industry where workers are paid a fair wage and treated with dignity.

This Thanksgiving, we give thanks for the huge steps forward this campaign has taken over the past year, and for the hope that progress gives us that, one day, those men and women who run our country's giant supermarket chains will find their way to doing the right thing by those people whose undervalued labor has built their riches for so very long.

But until they do, we will continue to fight for fundamental human rights in Florida's tomato fields. And you can join us -- click here for more on the CIW's Supermarket Campaign and plans for the big actions in Boston and Tampa this coming spring.

Super Market Week of Action

This week of November 14-21 take action in the national Supermarket Week of Action.

There are several important ways you can participate:

1. The supermarket e-action: click here to send an email to King Sooper's parent company Kroger.

2. Manager letter drops: deliver a letter to the manager of your local King Sooper's and take a minute to tell the manager that, as one of Kroger's customers, you expect Kroger to work with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to end the human rights crisis in Florida's fields.
Download the manager letter here.

3. Fliering: join us as we flier King Sooper's customers
Saturday, October 20, 11:00am
gather at the AFSC office (901 W. 14th Avenue)

Finally, check out this great video and help spread the word about the new Supermarket Campaign:


With the recent historic agreements between the CIW and leading tomato growers, the vision of a more just and humane agricultural system is closer than ever to becoming a reality.

There's no doubt that change is underway. But the rate, breadth, and depth of that change depends now more than ever on the buyers of Florida produce — from Publix to Ahold, Kroger to Trader Joe's, Quiznos, and Walmart.

In the lead-up to Thanksgiving - one of the busiest times of the year for this country's supermarkets - you can do your part to help speed the day when all of Florida's farmworkers enjoy the fair wages, respect and dignity they deserve.

No Coast Encuentro a smashing success!

The No Coast Encuentro was a smashing success! Throughout the weekend of October 15-17, we gathered with allies from New Mexico, Kansas, Illinois and elsewhere. In those hectic three days, we formed new bonds with new friends from Boulder to Immokalee, renewed our committment to the Campaign for Fair Food, set a course for future action. (Unfortunately, one thing we failed to do was take many photos but here a few . . .)
This photo was taken literally miliseconds before the pinata from our Saturday party was decimated and its sweet contents were released for the partygoers' enjoyment. The poor tomato pinata may serve as a good analogy for what is coming to those companies - such as Quiznos, Kroger and Chipotle - which continue to hold out against the Campaign for Fair Food and the rising tide of justice in Florida's fields.

During the weekend, not only did we lead a powerful action outside Quiznos headquarters (see the photoreport here and the video here), we sharpened our organizing skills, shared ideas for future action and strategized around the next steps in the Campaign. Pictured above is a partial list of the many goals and committments that Encuentro participants made as we rapped up the Encuentro and head backed to our communities. Just like our sad paper mache friend, the corporate holdout are in for a beating.

More than anything the Encuentro was an opportunity for people to get involved, to strengthen our movement and to build connections between the many communities fighting for Fair Food. This picture, the closest we have to a group photo, represents just a fraction of the well-over a hundred people who picketed, learned, shared, partied, cooked, strategized and otherwise contributed to the No Coast Encuentro.

Thanks to everyone who made the No Coast Enucentro a huge success!