CTA S.W. Fla. seeks raise for tomato pickers

The recently formed Southwest Florida CTA affiliate (www.swfla.org) has joined the Coalition of Immolakee Workers (CIW) in its plea for McDonald's to increase the wages of Florida tomato pickers by a penny a pound. The Coalition's three-year boycott of Taco Bell ended in victory last year when the chain agreed to force its suppliers to pay a penny-per-pound more for Florida tomatoes, and to pass that money along to the workers. Pickers hadn't had a raise since the 1970s. The one penny meant from a $10 to $40 raise per week for the workers.

The CTA chapter was looking for a social justice issue to get involved in. The plight of Florida tomato pickers was ready-made for their advocacy, because it is right in their own back yard. Ninety percent of domestic fresh winter tomatoes come from Florida.

McDonald's buys vastly more tomatoes than Taco Bell — hence the new focus on McDonald's. The first step is to deliver signed petitions to local McDonald's restaurants. CIW will only call for a boycott if the petitions don't move McDonald's to cooperate. While groups like CTA Southwest Florida deliver the petitions, a CIW caravan is traveling across the country publicizing the campaign, and will arrive in Chicago for a national rally at McDonald's world headquarters April 4.

Get more information and download the petition at www.ciw-online.org