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Boycott Wendy's

Wendy's is the third largest hamburger chain in the world and continues to refuse offers to join the Fair Food Program led by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Wendy's continues to place profits above the exploitation of its farmworkers. As CIW launches national boycott against Wendy's we at IRTF are in solidarity with the people fighting for Fair Food.

boycott wendy's

“We are not tied down by slavery… we are embraced by freedom.”

The boycott, only the second in the history of the Campaign for Fair Food, has been necessitated by Wendy’s steadfast refusal to join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) Fair Food Program (FFP).  The FFP is a groundbreaking social responsibility program that has won recognition from the White House to the United Nations for its unique success in addressing decades-old farm labor abuses.  All of Wendy’s major competitors in the fast-food industry – McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, Taco Bell and Chipotle – have already joined the Fair Food Program. 

The CIW is calling for consumers to boycott Wendy’s because:

  1. Wendy’s has shifted its purchases from Florida to Mexico: Wendy’s has not only refused to join the FFP, but has stopped buying tomatoes from Florida altogether following the implementation of the Fair Food Program there. Rather than support US growers setting new standards for human rights in the agricultural industry, Wendy’s took its tomato purchases to Mexico, where the widespread denial of human rights in the produce industry was the subject of an in-depth expose by the Los Angeles Times just one year ago.

  2. Wendy’s has chosen public relations over human rights protections: Instead of joining the Fair Food Program and its widely-acclaimed, uniquely successful worker-driven model of social responsibility, Wendy’s released a new supplier code of conduct this past January that contains no effective mechanisms for worker participation or enforcement. Wendy’s new code represents the very worst of the traditional corporate approach to social responsibility driven by public relations concerns rather than the verifiable protection of human rights.

  3. Wendy’s is profiting from farmworker poverty: Wendy’s stands alone as the last of the five major US fast food corporations to refuse to join the FFP: McDonald’s, Yum! Brands, Subway, and Burger King are all part of the Program. By refusing to participate, Wendy’s is deriving a very real cost advantage over its competitors, while continuing to provide a market for less reputable growers.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

LETTER

1-     Sign a letter and take it to a local Wendy’s. Explain to the person at the register, “Although I would like to buy food today, I cannot support a business that denies human rights to workers. Please give this letter to your manager. Thank you!”

2-     Mail a letter to the CEO of Wendy’s. Todd A. Penegor, President and Chief Executive Officer, 1 Dave Thomas Blvd, Dublin, OH 43017

3-     Contact your local franchise owner. Ask who owns your local Wendy’s. Mail them a copy of the letter.

ORGANIZE

Organize your friends to write letters

Gather a group to write letters and mail them to Wendy’s headquarters. Contact irtf@irtfcleveland.org for flyers and other materials.

FILM

Host a screening of the film “Food Chains”

Eva Longoria and Eric Schlosser were the executive producers for the 2014 documentary, “Food Chains,” which showed farmworkers in Immokalee, Florida, launch a hunger strike at the headquarters of Publix supermarkets to protest poor wages and working conditions. Hosting a film screening can bring consumers together and further lead to dialogue to determine the next step in promoting the Wendy’s boycott.

BOYCOTT

Ask your congregation or community group or campus to endorse the Wendy’s boycott

Join the network of religious, student, human rights and grassroots organizations who are partnering with the CIW to boycott Wendy’s. Follow this link to find the forms to complete the endorsement: http://www.boycott-wendys.org/endorsements/

STUDENTS

Start a Student/Farmworker Alliance chapter on campus and organize your own Boot the Braids campaign! www.sfalliance.org

GET MORE INFO

More info and updates on the campaign available at http://www.ciw-online.org/

How you can take action http://www.allianceforfairfood.org/take-action/#

<CIW to Wendy’s: “We are here to remind Nelson Peltz that there is something more important than money:  Dignity!”