Speaking of McDonald's...

Seeing McDonald's and strikes mentioned reminded me, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers community organisation is also busy taking on the Evil Empire, this time in Florida. The CIW represents agricultural labourers (mainly of Latino, Haitian, and Mayan origin), many of whom work in the tomato fields used to supply McDonald's for the purposes of producing their sandwiches, salads and so on. They often work in sweatshop conditions and are subject to violence and intimidation, in what amounts to modern-day slavery. The CIW, and its allies in the Student / Farmworker Alliance, are fighting for:

• The right to a fair wage, after more than 25 years of sub-poverty wages and stagnant piece rates;
• The right for farmworkers to participate in the decisions that affect their lives, after decades of sweatshop conditions and humiliating labor relations;
• The right to a real code of conduct based on modern labor standards, after McDonald’s and its suppliers unilaterally imposed a hollow code of conduct comprised of minimal labor standards and suspect monitoring.
  

The rotters! Anyway, on April 1st farmworkers from Immokalee (Fl.) and other activists will be staging a rally in Chicago, global headquarters of McDonald's, in support of their basic human rights. The CIW is also asking sympathisers to deliver this letter to their local McDonald's franchise.