New York City Council Member Mark Levine addresses hundreds of farmworkers, New Yorkers, and supporters from across the Northeast during the “What are you hiding, Wendy’s” March on November 18, announcing the introduction of City Council Resolution 1156 urging Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program. |
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New York City Council Members Mark Levine, Brad Lander, and Helen Rosenthal introduce resolution calling “on Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program and support farmworkers’ human rights”!
Last week, over 500 farmworkers, their families, and supporters from across New York City and the northeast marched through the heart of Manhattan to the hedge-fund offices of Trian Partners, Wendy’s largest shareholder. As chants of “Boycott Wendy’s” thundered down Park Ave., Council Member Mark Levine rose to the mic to exclaim, “Bienvenidos!” and announce that members of the Big Apple’s City Council were calling “on Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program and support farmworkers’ human rights”!
Indeed, with this move, New York is adding to the momentum generated by several other major cities across the U.S that passed powerful resolutions this past spring calling on Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program. These City Councils represented regions which included major universities housing Wendy’s – Ann Arbor, MI, Gainesville, FL, and Carrboro, NC — and whose residents took to the streets to support Wendy’s boycott actions when the CIW’s “4 for Fair Food" Tour visited their hometowns.
In a statement, Council Member Mark Levine, hailing from District 7 in Manhattan, underscored the sponsoring members’ support for basic human rights for the men and women who harvest our food: “New Yorkers believe farmworkers harvesting the food we eat should labor in humane and respectful conditions. That’s why I, along with Council Members Brad Lander and Helen Rosenthal, have co-sponsored a City Council resolution urging Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program. The great city of New York is home to many Wendy’s restaurants throughout the five boroughs and is the only major fast-food chain to not participate in the Fair Food Program. Wendy’s, New Yorkers expect better.”
In the weeks leading up to the action on the 18th, farmworker leaders and allies met with City Council Members to educate them on the power and potential of the Fair Food Program, winning the Council Members’ support for the ongoing Campaign for Fair Food and Wendy’s Boycott. In addition to meeting with the resolution’s sponsors, the Fair Food team met with the New York City Women’s Caucus, Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, and Councilman Ydonis Rodriguez, all of whom expressed their support for the Fair Food Program and the national Wendy’s Boycott.
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Councilman Ydonis Rodriguez (center, left photo) and Councilwoman Carlina Rivera (center, right photo) stand with farmworker leaders and show their support for the Wendy’s Boycott. |
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On the heels of the resolution’s introduction, faith leaders from across the city swiftly drafted a letter to support its passage, calling on local council members to do their part and join the effort to urge Wendy’s to join the Fair Food Program. Here are just a few highlights from the powerful missive:
We write to you as concerned clergy from across NYC, representing a wide range of faiths and institutions, and as supporters of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Our faith traditions call us to build a world of human rights and justice, and to serve as allies to those building a better world. Therefore, we urge the New York City Council to pass the resolution before it, calling on Wendy’s to support farmworkers’ rights by joining the Fair Food Program…
…Many of us have visited Immokalee and seen firsthand the real changes that the Fair Food Program has made in the lives of farmworkers since it was implemented in 2011. Others of us have marched alongside CIW, demanding justice for farmworkers, or welcomed CIW members to speak in our congregations. And in 2018, some of us fasted for five days alongside CIW outside of Trian’s offices, urging the company to end sexual violence in their supply chain once and for all by joining the Fair Food Program. Unfortunately, nearly two years later, Wendy’s and Trian have refused to be part of writing a new chapter of rights and respect in U.S. agriculture that is being realized by tens of thousands of farmworkers laboring on Fair Food Program farms stretching from Florida to New Jersey along the Eastern Seaboard.
But as Dr. King famously said, the time is always ripe for doing good. We urge the New York City Council to pass this resolution without delay, and to join with us as we march alongside CIW on November 18th. After all, justice is all our business.
And you can show your support, too! If you are in New York City, email your local City Council Member to encourage them to support the newly-introduced Resolution 1156 in support of the Fair Food Program! |
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Coalition of Immokalee Workers
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A copy of the CIW's official registration and financial information may be obtained from the Florida Division of Consumer Services by calling toll-free 1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352). Registration does not imply endorsement, approval, or recommendation by the state. The website for the Florida Division of Consumer Services is https://www.freshfromflorida.com
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