Burger King Will Help Farm Workers

An advocacy group says tomato pickers need higher wages.

By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

MIAMI - Burger King Corp. and a farmworkers' advocacy group announced a deal Friday to end a bitter dispute by trying to boost wages and improve conditions for Florida tomato pickers.

The No. 2 hamburger chain joins rivals McDonald's Corp. and Taco Bell owner Yum Brands Inc., which already have similar deals. But whether the workers get a raise depends on the participation of tomato growers who have resisted the agreements.

Under the deal with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Burger King agreed to pay 1.5 cents more per pound of tomatoes it buys from Florida growers, with a penny of that given to workers. To encourage participation, the rest will go to growers to help cover any additional payroll taxes and administrative costs.

Burger King CEO John Chidsey apologized for negative comments the Miami-based company may have made in the past about the coalition, adding the group has been at the forefront of improving farmworker lives.

"We are pleased to now be working together with the CIW to further the common goal of improving Florida tomato farmworkers' wages, working conditions and lives," he said in a statement. "Today we turn a new page in our relationship and begin a new chapter of real progress for Florida farmworkers."

The farmworkers, likely through the coalition, would be allowed to help monitor conditions in the fields. The increase roughly doubles the earnings of the workers while they are picking tomatoes, the coalition said.

Burger King Vice President Amy Wagner said at a news conference in Washington that the increase for all workers was estimated to be about $250,000. The total cost to Burger King would be about $320,000, including the additional payments for growers.

"The events of the past months have been trying. But we are prepared to move forward, together now with Burger King, toward a future of full respect for the human rights of workers in the Florida tomato fields," said coalition co-founder Lucas Benitez.

At the news conference, he called on other buyers to join Burger King, including Subway, Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and organic and natural food grocer Whole Foods Market Inc.

For months, Burger King insisted that farmworkers earn an average of $12.56 an hour. The Immokalee coalition has long said workers earn much less. To earn that much, workers would have to fill and empty a 32-pound bucket of tomatoes, each worth about 45 cents, about every two minutes every day, the coalition said.

McDonald's and Yum Brands have already agreed to pay a penny more per pound of Florida tomatoes, so long as growers pass the extra money on to workers.

Those agreements also call on the companies to work with the coalition to establish a code of conduct for their suppliers.

Since last fall, those deals have existed on paper only after the industry group representing Florida tomato growers refused to allow its members to participate. But the coalition expressed hope that the growers would reconsider after Burger King's change of heart.

Telephone and e-mail messages left Thursday and Friday morning for the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange were not immediately returned.