For Immediate Release
Contact Jeffrey Buchanan
202-463-7575 ext 241
buchanan (at) rfkmemorial.org

Washington, DC April 12, 2007—The Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights congratulates the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in their historic victory securing an agreement with McDonald’s on farmworker’s rights earlier this week.

“This is an incredible victory for the CIW and farmworkers across the country,” said Monika Kalra Varma, Director of RFK Center. “Now is the time for other big produce purchasers like Burger King and Subway to follow McDonald’s stated commitment to the human rights of farmworkers and partner with them to protect against abuses within their operations and supply networks.”

Like the CIW’s earlier agreement with Yum! Brands, owners of Taco Bell, the agreement between the CIW and McDonald’s announced this week in Atlanta was based on three principles grounded in internationally recognized human rights principles;

• A pay raise of a penny per pound of tomatoes picked, nearly doubling the going piece rate when workers pick tomatoes going to either company;
• Supply chain transparency and a verifiable zero tolerance policy for modern-day slavery;
• The right for farmworkers to participate, through the CIW, in the development and implementation of an enforceable code of conduct.

“Everyone has a right to just working conditions, including fair wages, freedom from forced labor, and a right to participate in efforts to protect against future abuses at work,” said Kerry Kennedy, author, daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and founder of RFK Center. “Without these rights slavery, poverty and abuse will continue in America’s retail food industry, tainting the salads and sandwiches of companies who do not stand up for human dignity.”

RFK Center has worked with the CIW since three of the group’s leaders won the organization’s Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award in 2003. Since then RFK Center joined other allies of the CIW to found the Alliance for Fair Food to promote principles and practices of socially responsible purchasing in the corporate food industry.

“The Coalition of Immokalee Workers and McDonald’s have set the standards for human rights in the retail food industry,” said Kennedy.

Source: Robert F. Kennedy Memorial (www.rfkmemorial.org) )