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At last, Burger King does the right thing

In print: Monday, June 2, 2008

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After a three-year battle, Burger King has finally changed its jingle when it comes to Florida's tomato pickers.

The fast-food giant recently agreed to join others in the industry to provide farmworkers in the state with an additional penny for each pound of tomatoes picked.

It took a Senate hearing, a large protest rally outside Burger King headquarters in Miami and the public disclosure of a corporate dirty tricks campaign against farmworker advocates for the restaurant chain to come around.

The agreement would increase tomato-picker pay by about 70 percent. Farmworkers earn an average of 45 cents for every 32-pound bucket, a wage that has barely budged in decades. The new wage of 77 cents per bucket would mean workers' yearly earnings could go from about $10,000 to between $16,000 and $17,000, a farmworker spokesman said.

In addition to the extra penny for the pickers, Burger King has agreed to pay another half cent per pound to the growers for any extra payroll and administrative costs. All told, Burger King expects the deal to cost about $300,000 a year, not much of a sacrifice for a company with over $2-billion in annual revenues.

This victory is largely due to persistent efforts of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a farmworker advocacy group that has worked doggedly to bring public attention to the low pay and working conditions of Florida's tomato pickers. Through public protests and collective action, the coalition prodded Yum! Brands, the parent of Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, and then McDonald's, to join its penny-per-pound program.

Burger King was an obstinate holdout, publicly deriding the coalition's claims that farmworkers were exploited. In response to organized protests and other pressure tactics by the coalition, the company went so far as to hire an unlicensed private investigation firm known for its undercover tactics of infiltrating labor groups. And one of Burger King's corporate vice presidents was discovered using his daughter's screen name to post inflammatory comments about the coalition on various Web sites.

These revelations were a major embarrassment and helped to swing momentum in the farmworkers' favor. Burger King CEO John Chidsey apologized to the coalition "for any negative statements." He claims that his company is sincere about starting a new, more productive relationship with the coalition.

Unfortunately, there is still one major hold-out. The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, which represents 90 percent of the state's growers, has taken an intransigent position against the penny-per-pound program. At one time the exchange had threatened any grower who participated with a $100,000 fine, although the threat reportedly has now been withdrawn.

Burger King is to be congratulated for coming around. Maybe the growers will eventually come around, too. It wouldn't take much for them to do the right thing.