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[PCUSANEWS] Immokalee workers set sights on Subway


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Date Tue, 25 Nov 2008 14:17:10 -0500

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This story available online:

www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2008/08879<http://www.pcusa.org/pcnews/2008/08879

>Immokalee workers set sights on Subway

CIW headed to Connecticut to seek end to exploitation of
field workers

by Jerry L. Van Marter Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE - Having reached landmark agreements with many
fast-food giants and one grocery chain, the Coalition of
Immokalee Workers [www.ciw-online.org] (CIW) is hitting the
road again - this time to seek an agreement with Subway
sandwich restaurants.

Members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)-backed Florida
farmworkers organization are leaving Dec. 2 on a 10-day
swing through the Northeast aimed at bringing public
attention to the exploitation of farmworkers in the fields
where Subway's tomatoes are harvested.

In the last three years, the CIW has reached agreements
with Yum! Brands - parent company of Taco Bell - as well as
with McDonalds, Burger King and Whole Foods grocery chain -
that improve wages and working conditions for Florida's
tomato pickers, most of whom are natives of the Caribbean
and Central America.

The coalition was also recently instrumental in securing
the convictions of five Florida agricultural contractors
for human slavery.

"The vision of a food system that ensures human rights for
farmworkers is one that, even now, is beginning to bear
fruit," the CIW said in a press release announcing the trip
to Subway's headquarters in Milford, CT. "And yet, Subway,
one of the leaders in the industry, is dragging its feet,
refusing to grab hold of this vision and become part of
creating a more just future."

The CIW "truth tour" will generally follow the I-95
corridor from Florida to Connecticut.

The PC(USA) has been a partner with the Coalition of
Immokalee Workers for many years as part of the
denomination's Fair Food campaign [www.pcusa.org/fairfood].
The campaign, among other efforts, supports agreements
between fast food and grocery companies to:

-pay a penny per pound increase to workers harvesting
tomatoes for Florida tomato suppliers;

-work with the CIW to develop an enforceable, human rights
based code of conduct to address human rights violations,
including modern-day slavery in the fields.

On its trip, the Subway Tour delegation will be meeting
with local student, church, labor, and community groups and
organizing actions at local Subway restaurants. The
schedule:

December 2 - Miami, FL December 3 - Raleigh-Durham, NC
December 4 - Washington, DC and Baltimore, MD December 5 -
Philadelphia December 6 - Boston and Providence, RI
December 7 & 8 - New Haven & Milford, CT December 9 & 10 -
New York City

For more information about specific events, or to help
organize an event in your community, contact the Rev.
Noelle Damico [noelle.damico@pcusa.org], National
Coordinator of the PC(USA) Campaign for Fair Food or
Jessica Bass [jessica.bass@yale.edu], intern with the
PC(USA) Campaign for Fair Food from Yale Divinity School.

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