[Peace-discuss] McDonald's comes to agreement

Mon Apr 9 18:13:35 CDT 2007

And don't forget tomorrow's VICTORY rally at 12noon on
the UIUC quad!

The campaign for decent wages and working conditions
in America's fields is not over.  Taco Bell and
McDonald's are two big steps, but there are many more
restaurants and supermarkets.

See you tomorrow!
Ricky 

--- Siobhan Kolar <siobhankolar at hotmail.com> wrote:

---------------------------------
We have incredible news today!!!   The farmworkers are
en route from Atlanta right now and will be arriving
in Chicago Tuesday night.  We will still be having a
big event out here in the suburbs on Friday, April
13th to call on the rest of the fast-food industry to
follow suit, so more information will be forthcoming! 
This is amazing-- THANK YOU to everyone for all of
your support these past few months!   And we will see
you on Friday!    Brigitte  

CIW, McDONALD'S, AND McD's SUPPLIERS REACH AGREEMENT
TO IMPROVE FARMWORKER WAGES, WORKING CONDITIONS!

With the arrival of the 2007 Truth Tour in Chicago
just days away, the CIW, McDonald's, and its suppliers
gathered at the Carter Center in Atlanta today to
announce an agreement that guarantees:

   1. A penny more per pound to workers harvesting
tomatoes for McDonald's;
   2. A stronger code of conduct based on the
principle of worker participation;
   3. And a collaborative effort to develop a third
party mechanism for monitoring conditions in the
fields and investigating workers' complaints of abuse.

As we celebrate this exciting new accord with
McDonald's, the Campaign for Fair Food continues, and
Chicago is more important than ever. Join us on the
13th and 14th as we chart the course for the continued
expansion of farm labor justice throughout the
fast-food industry.  More information and details on
the location of the Friday, April 13th event in the
Western suburbs will be coming soon!   

For a picture from today's announcement at the Carter
Center, visit: www.ciw-online.org
See the press release on this landmark agreement below
or visit:  
www.ciw-online.org/CIW_McDonald's_Release.html

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   
April 9, 2007

Contacts: 
Lucas Benitez, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, (239)
503-0133 or (239) 986-2364

William Whitman, McDonald’s USA, (630) 623-6745

McDONALD’S USA AND ITS PRODUCE SUPPLIERS TO WORK WITH
THE COALITION OF IMMOKALEE WORKERS

ATLANTA – The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW),
and McDonald’s USA, working with McDonald’s produce
suppliers, today announced plans to work together to
address wages and working conditions for the
farmworkers who pick Florida tomatoes.

Beginning in the 2007 growing season, McDonald’s USA,
through its produce suppliers, will pay an additional
penny per pound for Florida tomatoes supplied to its
U.S. restaurants.  The increase will be paid directly
to farmworkers harvesting tomatoes purchased by
McDonald’s.

The CIW and McDonald’s produce suppliers will work
together to develop a new code of conduct for Florida
tomato growers as well as increase farmworker
participation in monitoring supplier compliance.

Farmworkers will also participate in investigating
worker complaints and dispute resolution. 
Additionally, the CIW and McDonald’s produce suppliers
will work together toward developing and implementing
a credible third-party verification system.

“I welcome McDonald’s commitment to work with the
Coalition of Immokalee Workers to improve the lives of
the workers who supply their 13,000 U.S. restaurants
with tomatoes,” said former United States President
and founder of the Carter Center, Jimmy Carter.  “This
is a clear and welcome example of positive industry
partnership.  It demonstrates also McDonald’s
leadership in social responsibility and CIW’s
importance as a voice for farmworker rights.  I
encourage others to now follow the lead of McDonald’s
and Taco Bell to achieve the much needed change
throughout the entire Florida-based tomato industry.” 
Representatives from the Carter Center, based in
Atlanta, helped facilitate the agreement with the
Coalition and McDonald’s.

“Two years ago, our agreement with Yum Brands marked
the first step toward a distant dream of ensuring
human rights for workers in Florida’s fields,” said
Lucas Benitez of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
“Today, with McDonald’s, we have taken another major
step toward a world where we as farmworkers can enjoy
a fair wage and humane working conditions in exchange
for the hard and essential work we do every day.  We
are not there yet, but we are getting there, and
today’s agreement should send a strong message to the
rest of the restaurant and supermarket industry that
it is now time to stand behind the food they sell from
the field to the table.”

“We have always respected the CIW’s commitment to
enhancing conditions for the workers,” said J.C.
Gonzalez-Mendez, Senior Vice President, Supply Chain
Management, McDonald’s USA.  “We’ve made progress with
our suppliers through our existing Florida tomato
grower standards, which hold the growers accountable
to standards higher than the industry, but that was
only the beginning.  We believe more needs to be done.
McDonald’s produce suppliers are required to purchase
tomatoes only from those growers that have adopted our
standards.”

To foster further improvements throughout the tomato
industry, the CIW and McDonald’s produce suppliers,
with McDonald’s support, will also work together
toward the development of a third-party mechanism that
would carry out similar monitoring and investigative
functions at the industry level.  The third-party
mechanism will be developed in such a way as to be
expandable to include the participation of other
willing members of the foodservice and retail food
industry that buy Florida tomatoes.

CIW has ended its two-year campaign against McDonald’s
and pledged to work with the company and its suppliers
to drive systemic and sustainable changes in the
Florida tomato industry.

###

---------------------------------

From:  Karen Medina <kmedina at uiuc.edu>
Reply-To:  kmedina at uiuc.edu
To:  peace-discuss at anti-war.net, peace at anti-war.net
Subject:  [Peace] Champaign referenda - Tuesday April
10, 7pm
Date:  Mon, 9 Apr 2007 13:52:29 -0500 (CDT)
>If you are a Champaign resident, please attend the
Annual Town Meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, April 10, 2007
>7:00pm (arrive 15-20 minutes early and bring ID with
your address on it)
>Champaign City Council Chambers
>Corner of Neil and University
>
>3 referenda being proposed, the 2nd and 3rd ones are
from AWARE
>==============================================================
>     Poverty Referendum
>
>Shall the voters of the City of Champaign Township
ask the Township Trustees to restore the level of
general assistance funding by actively pursuing any
and all means available to them in order to preserve
the health and well-being of individuals, children,
families and adults living in extreme poverty in our
township?
>
>==============================================================
>     Cut Funding for War and Occupation of Iraq
>
>Shall the voters call upon their elected
representatives in Congress to pursue all available
means to limit military funding in Iraq to only what
is required to bring all U.S. troops home safely?
>
>==============================================================
>     Detainees' Rights Referendum
>
>Shall the voters call upon their elected
representatives in
>Congress to do all in their power to repeal or amend
the Military Commissions Act in order to restore the
U.S. constitutional right of habeas corpus and to
uphold internationally recognized rules of law,
thereby preventing the cruel and inhuman treatment and
the arbitrary and indefinite detention for all
detainees held by the U.S. government?
>
>==============================================================
>
>IMPORTANT INFORMATION
>- You should plan to arrive 15-20 minutes early
because everyone who intends to vote will have to be
verified as a township resident
>- You might want to bring your driverâ€™s license or
some sort of identification to verify residency if
questioned by township officials
>- If you wish to speak, ask for a card to do so
>
>EVERY PERSON AND VOTE WAS NEEDED at the Champaign
Town Meeting last year!!!!  We MUST have the same or
greater turnout again.  Hope you will consider
participating in one of the RARE grassroots democratic
processes left for the ordinary citizen:

>_______________________________________________
>Peace mailing list
>Peace at lists.chambana.net
>http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace

---------------------------------
 Exercise your brain! Try Flexicon.  >
_______________________________________________
> Peace-discuss mailing list
> Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>
http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
> 

____________________________________________________________________________________
TV dinner still cooling? 
Check out "Tonight's Picks" on Yahoo! TV.
http://tv.yahoo.com/