A Side of McSlavery with That?

If you haven't been dissuaded by the nutrition nightmares that are McDonalds and Burger King, perhaps their use of slaves to pick their tomatoes will keep you away?  That's right, the tomatoes on your Big Mac or Whopper may have been picked by workers who were,

"Beaten and chained inside trucks at night so that they couldn't escape. Enslaved, the food they produced was distributed by restaurants and supermarkets throughout the country."

Last year, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers won a great victory by getting Burger King and McDonalds to agree to pay the farmworkers who picked their tomatoes $00.01 more per pound and enforce non-exploitative working conditions.  However, these fast food giants are not making good on their promises to workers.  According to a recent article by Bill Maxwell,

"The Burger King and McDonald's deals have not been implemented, and the pickers have not seen a penny of the money that belongs to them. Instead, the money from the chains is being held in bank escrow accounts. The CIW is trying to get the money dispersed to pickers."

We need to show Burger King and McDonalds that we have not forgotten the promises they made, and we intend to hold them to their word.  Young people and activists coming together and demanding justice for trafficked farmworkers was the primary driving force behind the success of the initial agreements.  We can also be the ones who force them to make good on their word, implement the changes, and ensure farmworkers are actually receiving due wages and decent working conditions.

And not to let other other companies off the hook, neither Chipotle or Subway have even agreed to stop exploiting farworkers.  You can write a letter to your local Chipotle manager here.