Religious Leader Statements
Letter to Publix from Bishop Frank Dewane of the Catholic Diocese of Venice in Florida.
Letter to Publix from Bishop Timothy Whitaker, Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church
Letter to Publix from the Rev. Kent Siladi, Conference Minister, Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ
Letter to Publix signed by over 20 national religious institutions and endorsers of the Alliance for Fair Food
Joint Statement by the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida & South Florida Interfaith Worker Justice
Letter to Publix from Barry University School of Law faculty.
Guest Commentary by the Rev. Dana Hendershot of Christus Victor Lutheran Church in the Naples Daily News.
Guest Opinion by the Rev. Jim Boler, a retired United Church of Christ minister, published in the Ft. Myers News-Press
Ft. Myers News-Press article about Publix, farmworkers, and people from local congregations who have gotten involved in calling on Publix to do the right thing.
Click here for media and press around efforts to engage Publix.
Publix and Slavery in the Fields
In December 2008, employers Cesar and Geovanni Navarrete were sentenced to 12 years each in federal prison on charges of conspiracy, holding workers in involuntary servitude, and peonage. They had employed dozens of tomato pickers in Florida and South Carolina. As stated in the US Department of Justice press release on the farm bosses' conviction, “[the employers] pled guilty to beating, threatening, restraining, and locking workers in trucks to force them to work as agricultural laborers. They were accused of paying the workers minimal wages and driving the workers into debt, while simultaneously threatening physical harm if the workers left their employment before their debts had been repaid to the Navarretes."
As reported in the Fort Myers News-Press, "The bosses took their captive crews to work on farms owned by some of the state’s major tomato producers: Immokalee-based Six L’s and Pacific Tomato Growers in Palmetto” (“Workers to take slavery tales to Crist,” Ft. Myers News-Press, 03/12/09).
Until the recent freeze effectively wiped out Florida tomato supplies, Publix continued to purchase tomatoes from both Pacific Tomato Growers and Six L's, despite the fact that the victims in this recent farmworker slavery case were taken to work on these farms. Join us in encouraging Publix to stop turning a blind eye to modern-day slavery and other abuses in Florida agriculture.
Excerpts from Religious Leaders' Statements on the Campaign for Fair Food.
United Church of Christ Fair Food Resolution to work with the CIW and the Campaign for Fair Food.
Rev. Siladi, UCC FL Conference Minister, speaks at Burger King.
2008 Unitarian Universalist Association Action of Immediate Witness on ending slavery in the fields.
Burger King Campaign (successful 5/23/08)
Statement on CIW-Burger King agreement by
Bishop Murphy, Chair, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development.
Religious Leaders' Letter to Burger King signed by over 100 National and Florida Religious Leaders.
Letter from Rev. Michael Livingston, President of the National Council of Churches to Burger King.
Statement to Burger King and the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange by the Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of the General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Letter from Archbishop Favalora to Burger King on behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Florida.
Letter from Bishop Whitaker of the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church to Burger King.
Resolution adopted at the Annual Meeting of the Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ, May 2-3, 2008
Letter from Rev. Kent Siladi, Conference Minister, of the Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ to Burger King.
Letter from Bishop Frade of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida to Burger King.
Florida Conference of the United Church of Christ 2007 Resolution in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers' Burger King Campaign.
Excerpts from Additional Religious Leaders' Statements:
The Rev. Michael Livingston (President, National Council of Churches USA)
"This agreement [CIW-McDonald’s] represents a tremendous step forward in the struggle for dignity and justice for farmworkers and the transformation of the agricultural industry toward greater respect for human rights. Though an incredible victory, our celebration should be tempered by the truth that we still have far to go to extend these just gains for farmworkers to other companies and to create a truly just food system. Yes, we mean you Burger King as well as Subway and Chipotle and all the rest of the fast-food companies who continue to offer explanations, rationales, and excuses for business practices and policies that do not meet the standard of a basic tenant of Christianity--treat your neighbor as yourself--and do not reflect the just relations all our faith traditions call us to create in this world. Burger King, you're next; get your penny ready!"
Most Reverend Nicholas DiMarzio (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops)
“The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has long fought for the human rights and dignity of farmworkers, forging a strong national network of community activists, religious organizations, student groups, and local and national leaders committed to helping farmworkers improve their lives…. Farm workers too often lack adequate wages and reasonable working conditions. Because they know best the problems that need to be remedied, it is vitally important that they have an effective voice in efforts to improve work conditions.”
The Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick (Stated Clerk, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
“We do this [support the CIW] because scripture calls us to be stewards of God’s creation, which includes our economic life, and because we follow Jesus Christ who, as a poor man himself, inaugurated his own ministry by bringing “good news to the poor.” . . . Any corporation which benefits through the exploitation of others is gravely implicated in such exploitation and has a moral and ethical responsibility to end that exploitation.”
The Rev. Linda Jaramillo (Executive Minister, Justice & Witness Ministries, United Church of Christ)
“The United Church of Christ has a long history of working for social and economic justice. We have a special interest in farm workers, people with whom Jesus would have particularly identified himself. He would have classified them among “the least” of God children when viewed through the lens of social and economic privilege. But as beloved children of God, farm workers are entitled to an equitable portion of the abundance God gives this world.”
The Rt. Rev. Leo Frade (Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida)
“The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) has established a working model for corporate social responsibility that advances and ensures the human rights of farmworkers in the corporate supply chain… McDonald’s has now joined Yum Brands in partnering with the CIW, and it is only a matter of time before other fast-food corporations will realize they too must respond to the call for justice and respect for the human rights of farmworkers… Like Episcopalians around the country, [we] are standing with the CIW in the growing movement for fair food and corporate social responsibility, and will continue to do so until justice and dignity are won.”
Robert Keithan (Director of the Unitarian Universalist Association’s Washington Office on Advocacy)
“The Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations has a long-standing commitment to supporting the health and well-being of farm workers. While progress has been made since our first policy statement in 1961, we know that many farm workers in the United States still face harsh and often unsafe working conditions for unlivable wages and no benefits. These conditions are not in line with the ethical values we believe should be upheld by major American corporations.”
