Georgetown Students Tell BK: "Let Farm Workers Have it Their Way!"

On Friday 22 February 2007, a group from Georgetown Solidarity Committee and other Georgetown students braved forecasts of freezing rain to inform K Street of Burger King’s misdeeds towards farm workers in Immokalee, Florida. The students were protesting a Burger King on the 1600 block of K Street as part of a larger campaign against Burger King orchestrated by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW). Recently, the CIW brought Burger King a proposal in which Burger King would use its leverage as a major purchaser of tomatoes to pay one cent more per pound of tomatoes picked by a farm worker. One more penny per pound would approximately double a farm worker’s wage and bring it closer to the federal minimum wage ($6.15/hour). Burger King refused the proposal and even has the audacity to attempt to bring further obstacles for restaurants which have already agreed to the one cent per pound price hike like Taco Bell and McDonald’s.

This history converged upon the K Street Burger King as students took the time to inform customers and workers of the exploitation in their Whopper. The students made noise and waved signs so that the manager and anyone in a passing car knew of Burger King’s injustices. These students not only came with the boisterous heat, but passed out flyers to passers-by and potential customers so that information was dispersed with indignation. After the chants had subsided, was it over? Nay, for student and religious groups all over the country will plan actions like this until Burger King realizes the value of a penny. The CIW is kicking off a nationwide petition campaign this week so DC area Burger Kings had better be worried. Georgetown will be back, and we will be bigger.

To find out more about the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the campaign against Burger King, please visit www.ciw-online.org.

For The Hoya’s article on the action (with accompanying corrections in the comments section by a GU alumnus) please visit http://www.thehoya.com/node/15509.