Students, workers protest Burger King
Farmworkers want more pay, labor code
Bianca Fortis
Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: News
Representatives from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers came to campus Friday to speak out against Burger King.
The CIW is a worker-based organization that campaigns for the rights of farmworkers. Students at UCF have been involved in the effort since 2007.
The representatives explained that farmworkers from Immokalee are paid 40 to 45 cents per bucket of tomatoes that they pick. Each bucket weighs about 32 pounds. The money that workers make leaves them below the poverty line. The CIW has also brought exposure to cases of "modern-day slavery." In some instances, workers are denied water or even tied to walls, representatives said.
In 2001, the CIW launched a campaign against Taco Bell. The farmworkers asked for three things: one more penny per pound, a code of labor and an avenue for workers to have a voice within the company
After four years, Taco Bell met the workers' demands. Now the CIW is after Burger King.
Marc Rodrigues, a farmworker, explained that they cannot take on the fast-food industry as a whole.
"We try to take it step by step to make changes. We attack the biggest [companies] first and hope for a domino effect so that other companies will follow," Rodrigues said. "We're not the puppets you think we are. We can think for ourselves."
Dominique Aulisio, a freshman and member of Students for a Democratic Society at UCF, has been spearheading UCF's farmworker campaign.
"I think the way farmworkers are treated, the racism and classism are so clear," she said. "It makes me angry that they can't afford food, while the people who are buying their tomatoes are living in penthouses."
Aulisio first heard about the farm workers in October 2007 when the coalition went on a mini-tour around Florida. She was touched by their stories and has since devoted much of her time to helping them.
"They represent self-empowerment and autonomy, and they have this ability to empower consumers, such as myself," she said. "When we see problems but don't know how to help, they come and say, 'Here, this is what you can do.'"
The CIW is a worker-based organization that campaigns for the rights of farmworkers. Students at UCF have been involved in the effort since 2007.
The representatives explained that farmworkers from Immokalee are paid 40 to 45 cents per bucket of tomatoes that they pick. Each bucket weighs about 32 pounds. The money that workers make leaves them below the poverty line. The CIW has also brought exposure to cases of "modern-day slavery." In some instances, workers are denied water or even tied to walls, representatives said.
In 2001, the CIW launched a campaign against Taco Bell. The farmworkers asked for three things: one more penny per pound, a code of labor and an avenue for workers to have a voice within the company
After four years, Taco Bell met the workers' demands. Now the CIW is after Burger King.
Marc Rodrigues, a farmworker, explained that they cannot take on the fast-food industry as a whole.
"We try to take it step by step to make changes. We attack the biggest [companies] first and hope for a domino effect so that other companies will follow," Rodrigues said. "We're not the puppets you think we are. We can think for ourselves."
Dominique Aulisio, a freshman and member of Students for a Democratic Society at UCF, has been spearheading UCF's farmworker campaign.
"I think the way farmworkers are treated, the racism and classism are so clear," she said. "It makes me angry that they can't afford food, while the people who are buying their tomatoes are living in penthouses."
Aulisio first heard about the farm workers in October 2007 when the coalition went on a mini-tour around Florida. She was touched by their stories and has since devoted much of her time to helping them.
"They represent self-empowerment and autonomy, and they have this ability to empower consumers, such as myself," she said. "When we see problems but don't know how to help, they come and say, 'Here, this is what you can do.'"