As many as 200 people are expected to gather at a Jacksonville Wendy’s Thursday to protest the fast food chain’s refusal to sign on to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers Fair Food Program. Leading the rally will be high school students from the River City Science Academy.
The Fair Food program is a partnership of farm workers, Florida tomato growers and nearly a dozen large food corporations, including McDonald’s, Walmart and Whole Foods.
Its goal is to bring about better wages, higher labor standards and more humane treatment of the more than 30,000 workers in what’s called the tomato supply chain.
Rob Rose, a teacher at the River City Science Academy and the faculty advisor for the school’s Community Service club, said the students are passionate about promoting awareness of and participation in the Fair Food Program.
“We have multiple issues that we work on but every year the students vote on what we’re going to work on for the year and this is always almost unanimous since we first started doing this issue that students want to continue working and stay involved,” he said.
Rose says several dozen farm workers from the Southwest Florida town of Immokalee are expected to take part in the protest along with the students.
The group plans to start at the Wendy’s on West University Boulevard at 5:30 and walk a couple of blocks to a Publix Supermarket.
Neither Wendy’s nor Publix participate in the Fair Food Initiative.
In a statement, Wendy’s said the restaurant chain pays a premium to tomato growers and suppliers and that it’s their responsibility to compensate their farm workers.
Similarly, Publix said it refuses to be drawn into a labor dispute between the Florida farmers who grow tomatoes and the farm workers they employ to harvest them.
You can follow Cyd Hoskinson on Twitter @cydwjctnews.
