[DenverFairFoodAnnounce] Protest at Chipotle HQ: Fri, Aug 8, 12:30pm

[Robert McGoey]

-Forward Widely-
[Flier attached]

Major protest at Chipotle Mexican Grill headquarters for Farmworker Justice

Members of United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS) from across the  
country together with workers from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers  
(CIW) will be in Denver to demand that Chipotle ensure fair wages and  
human rights for farmworkers.  Join us in a lively and energetic  
protest outside Chipotle's national headquarters.

DATE: Friday, August 8th, 12:30pm-1:30pm

Gather at:
Market Street Station (16th St. and Market, downtown Denver)

March to:
Chipotle Mexican Grill headquarters (1543 Wazee St.)

BACKGROUND:
Farmworkers in Florida who pick tomatoes face sub-poverty wages and  
sweatshop conditions everyday.  Workers earn just 40 to 50 cents for  
each 32lb bucket of tomatoes they pick - the same per bucket piece  
rate as they received in 1978.  At that rate a worker must pick 2.5  
TONS of tomatoes just to earn minimum wage for a typical 10hr workday.  
  Farmworkers make, on average, just $10,000 a year.  They are denied  
the right to overtime pay and the right to organize or bargain  
collectively.  In the most extreme situations, farmworkers are held  
against their will and forced to work in modern-day slavery rings.   
There have been six successfully prosecuted slavery rings in Florida,  
involving more than 1,000 workers, since 1997.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) - an organization of Latino,  
Haitian and Mayan immigrant farmworkers in Florida - has called on the  
fast food industry to take responsibility for the poverty and  
exploitation of farmworkers that has subsidized fast-food profits for  
decades.  After hard fought campaigns, the CIW reached agreements with  
Yum! Brands (parent company of Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut and others),  
McDonald's and Burger King - three of the leading fast food companies  
in the world - to improve the wages and working conditions of  
farmworkers in their tomato supply chains.

However, Chipotle refuses to follow the precedents set by these  
companies.  In fact in order to avoid improving the lives of  
farmworkers, Chipotle has claimed that it has suspended Florida tomato  
purchases while it conducts its own ?investigation? into the already  
well-documented conditions of Florida farm labor.  Nearly two year  
have passed since it supposedly launched its ?investigation? and many  
questions now beg to be answered.  Where are the results of Chipotle's  
inquiry?  Where has Chipotle been purchasing tomatoes in the meantime,  
and how do workers fare in those fields?  Did Chipotle ever actually  
cease purchasing Florida tomatoes or conduct any investigation at all?

Most pressing is the question: How does Chipotle's response to the CIW  
and its allies fit into the company's supposed dedication to "Food  
with Integrity"? Guided by this philosophy, Chipotle says it aspires  
to be a leader in corporate social responsibility, even claiming that  
it will "revolutionize the way America grows and gathers its food" by  
leveraging its high volume purchases to change its suppliers'  
practices. Are full transparency and human rights in its tomato supply  
chain not a part of Chipotle's definition of "Integrity"?

Join us in telling Chipotle that we need answers now.  ?Food with  
Integrity? is either a holistic vision that encompasses dignified  
working conditions for the women and men who actually gather America's  
food, or it is simply a cynical marketing ploy designed to cash in on  
a fad.  It can't be both.

Denver Fair Food Committee
For more info: robert at sfalliance.org, 505-980-4220
www.ciw-online.org
www.allianceforfairfood.org
www.sfalliance.org
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