"Justice too long delayed is justice denied." -Martin Luther King, Jr.3 weeks of protest against Quiznos and for farmworkers' human rights!
Friday, March 18, 12:00noon
Quiznos at 216 16th St. (one block W. of Broadway)[map]
Dress like a tomato!
Sunday, March 27, 12:00noon
Quiznos at 1275 Grant St. (13th & Grant)[map]
Picket at 1st ever Quiznos
Thursday, March 31, 12:00noon
Quiznos Headquarters, 1001 17th St. (17th & Curtis)[map]
Cesar Chavez Day Protest and Rally! honor the continuing struggle for farmworker justice!
A new era of human rights, fair wages and dignity - for which farmworkers have been fighting for so long - is taking hold in Florida's tomato fields. Yet, despite Quiznos' promises to the contrary, the Denver-based fast food chain still refuses to adopt the principles which would allow these changes to spread and thrive. The workers who pick tomatoes which end up on Quiznos' subs can no longer tolerate the delay of justice. And neither can we!
Join us, in solidarity with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, to push for an end to the farmworker exploitation which has subsidized Quiznos' profits for too long.
contact DenverFairFood@gmail.com for more info.
BACKGROUND:
Florida's farmworkers have long faced brutal conditions. They earn sub-poverty wages, have no right to form unions or to over-time pay, lack traditional employment benefits such as health, sick leave or pensions, and have not received a significant raise in nearly 30 years. At the current rate of .50 cents per 32lb bucket, a Florida tomato picker must harvest over TWO TONS just to earn the equivalent of minimum wage for a typical 10 hour. In the most extreme situations workers are held in modern-day slavery and forced to work against their will.
However, there is a new hope on the horizon, thanks to the hard-fought campaigns of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a community-base organization of Haitian, Latino and Mayan farmworkers in Florida. Today, nine leading food corporations (including Subway, McDonald's and Burger King) and over 90% of the Florida tomato industry have joined to support the CIW's Fair Food principles, including a penny-per-pound piece rate wage increase, a strict code of conduct, a cooperative complaint resolution system, a participatory health and safety program, and a worker-to-worker education process.
However, Quiznos - which continues to profit from the exploitation of farmworkers - has yet to do its part. While there have been discussions with the CIW, those talks continue to drag on because Quiznos won't agree to the same Fair Food principles that the entire Florida tomato industry has already adopted. Visit ciw-online.org or DenverFairFood.blogspot.com for more info.
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