Religious Leaders' Letter to Burger King

John Chidsey, CEO
Burger King Corporate Office
5505 Blue Lagoon Drive
Miami, FL 33126

November 2007

Dear Mr. Chidsey:

As religious leaders, we are appalled at the exploitative conditions under which farmworkers who pick tomatoes in Florida toil. Well-documented poverty wages and cases of modern-day slavery are inexcusable, calling all of us to awareness and action.

All people, fast-food executives, farm-workers, and consumers, are created in the image of God and endowed with human rights so that we may live lives of dignity. The abysmal violations of these rights that farmworkers currently endure are as inexcusable as they are preventable.

Burger King is in a powerful position to advance change in the Florida tomato fields by working with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) to pay tomato pickers a penny more per pound of tomatoes harvested and to set higher, enforceable standards for the growers who supply your corporation. Yum! Brands and McDonald’s have already taken these positive steps.

We are disappointed that Burger King has, thus far, denied that farmworkers are poor, assailed the reputation of the CIW, and used the excuses of the Florida tomato industry to justify its failure to implement the precedents established in the Yum and McDonald’s agreements in its own supply chain.

At this moment the Florida tomato industry is poised for a human rights transformation unlike any that has been seen in recent history. It is unconscionable that your company is attempting to obstruct this urgent and deserved advancement in human rights for farmworkers.

We urge Burger King to reach an agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to:
(a) Pay a penny more per pound for tomatoes to directly improve tomato pickers’ wages,
(b) Establish a rigorous and enforceable Code of Conduct, in collaboration with the CIW, to ensure humane working conditions for farmworkers who pick your company’s tomatoes,
(c) Ensure a voice for farmworkers by involving the CIW, which has a long and distinguished track record of uncovering farm labor abuses, in enforcing these improved wages and conditions in Burger King’s supply chain.

We hope that Burger King will choose to do the right thing and work together with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to truly ensure that our brothers and sisters who labor to pick tomatoes for Burger King’s products are treated with the dignity and justice every human being deserves.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Michael E. Livingston, President, National Council of Churches ~ The Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick, Stated Clerk of General Assembly, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ~ The Rev. John H. Thomas, General Minister and President, United Church of Christ ~ Jim Winkler, General Secretary, United Methodist Church - General Board of Church and Society ~ The Rev. William G. Sinkford, President, Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations ~ The Rev. M. Linda Jaramillo, Executive Minister, United Church of Christ - Justice and Witness Ministries ~ David Robinson, Executive Director, Pax Christi USA ~ Virginia Nesmith, Executive Director, National Farm Worker Ministry

The Rt. Rev. Leo Frade, Bishop of Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida ~ Bishop Timothy W. Whitaker, Resident Bishop, Florida Annual Conference of United Methodist Church ~ The Rev. Kent J. Siladi, Conference Minister, Florida Conference of UCC ~ The Rev. Dr. Arlene Gordon, Executive Presbyter, Presbytery of Tropical Florida ~ Jean Covell Silva, Associate Executive Presbyter, Presbytery of Florida ~ The Rev. Graham Hart, General Presbyter, Peace River Presbytery ~ The Rev. William Morrison, Jr., Regional Minister, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Florida ~ Rabbi Solomon Schiff, President, South Florida Interfaith Worker Justice

The Rev. Jim Boler, Sanibel Congregational United Church of Christ & Interfaith Action of SW FL ~ Rabbi Rebecca Lillian, South Florida Interfaith Worker Justice ~ The Rev. Noelle Damico, Campaign for Fair Food, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) ~ The Rev. Dr. Peter Wendell, Stated Clerk, Presbytery of Tropical Florida ~ The Rev. Karen Georgia A. Thompson, Minister for Disaster Response and Recovery, Florida Conference United Church of Christ ~ Ven. Dr J. Fritz Bazin, Archdeacon for Social Justice, Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida ~ Neil D. Michaud, Director, Peace and Justice Office, Catholic Diocese of Venice in Florida ~ Fr. Paul Kane, St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church, Pompano Beach, FL ~ The Rev. John Cox, OMI, Holy Redeemer and St. Francis Xavier Catholic Churches, Miami, FL ~ The Rev. German Vargas, Auxiliary Priest, Archdiocese of Miami ~ The Rev. Dr. Lucy Hitchcock Seck, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami ~ The Rev. Frank J. Corbishley, Episcopal Chaplain, University of Miami ~ The Rev. Nancy H. McCarthy, Priest-in-Charge, St. Mary's Episcopal Church ~ The Rev. Dr. Laurinda Hafner, Senior Pastor, Coral Gables Congregational United Church of Christ ~ Ray Adams, St. James in-the-Hills Episcopal Church ~ The Reverend Corinna Olson, Priest-in-Charge, St. Luke Physician Episcopal Church ~ The Rev. Spencer B. Potter, Associate Rector, St. Mark's Church and School ~ The Rev. Patricia Masterman, Deacon, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church ~ The Rev. Mimi Howard, Deacon Chair, Commission on Environment, Diocese of Southeast Florida ~ The Rev. John H Tidy, Priest-in-Charge, All Souls Episcopal Church ~ Fr. Gregory Mansfield, Pastoral Care Department, St. Mary's Hospital & Nicklaus Children's Hospital ~ The Rev. Debra Andrew-Maconaughey, St. Columba Episcopal Church, Marathon ~ The Rev. Kennedy McGowan, First Presbyterian Church, Hollywood ~ The Rev. Edwin Gonzalez-Gertz, Cypress Presbyterian Church ~ The Rev. Albert Bush, Garden Presbyterian Church ~ The Rev. C.D. Magby,Trinity Presbyterian Church, Key West ~ Y.J. Rhoades, Riviera Presbyterian Church, Miami ~ The Rev. Julio Delgado, Pan Americana Presbyterian Church ~ Tom Slager, First Presbyterian Church, West Palm Beach ~ Raymond Anglin, Ascension Peace Presbyterian Church, Lauderhill ~ Rt. The Rev Calvin Schofield & Mrs. Elaine Schofield, Retired Bishop, Episcopal Diocese of SE Florida ~ The Rev. Dr. Margaret E. Towner, Honorably Retired Pastor, Peace River Presbytery ~ The Rev. Miguel F. Estrada, Beth-El Farmworker Ministry ~ The Rev. Elizabeth M. Deibert, Peace Presbyterian New Church Development ~ Judy Homer, Chair, Social Justice Committee, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Miami ~ Margarita Lopez, Co-Chair, Justice and Peace Committee, Coral Gables Congregational Church ~ Sr. Annette M. Sinagra, OP, Corporate Responsibility Analyst, Adrian Dominican Sisters ~ Sr. Sara Fairbanks, Adrian Dominican Sisters ~ The Rev. Donn Brammer, First Christian Church, West Palm Beach ~ Leadership Team, Sisters of Charity BVM ~ The Rev. Drew Willard, Holiday United Church of Christ (UCC) ~ The Rev. Dr. Sandra R. Boler, Sanibel Congregational UCC ~ The Rev. Mardie Chapman, Lakewood UCC, St. Petersburg, FL ~ The Rev. William R. Mulford, Chapel on Hill United Church of Christ ~ The Rev. Don Henderson, Lehigh Acres First Community Congregational United Church of Christ ~ Rabbi Bruce Diamond, D.D., Community Free Synagogue, Ft. Myers ~ The Rev. Alan Beaver, St. John's Episcopal Church, Tampa ~ The Rev. Harris Riordan, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Boca Raton ~ The Rev. Dr. LoraKim Joyner, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Gainesville ~ The Rev. Manish K. Mishra, Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg ~ Rosemary A. Hagen, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Venice ~ Linda A. Anderson, Board Member, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of St. Augustine ~ The Rev. Dr. E. Bonnie Devlin, Manatee Unitarian Universalist Fellowship ~ W. Davis Coale, President, Board of Trustees, Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Petersburg ~ Carol Willis, Social Justice Council Co-Chair, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Gainesville ~ Mary Alice Pugh, Elder, Lakeside Presbyterian Church ~ Mark J. Fogg, Elder, Faith Presbyterian Church, Pembroke Pines ~ Marge Hellgren, Elder, Second Presbyterian Church, Ft. Lauderdale ~ Trudy Cooke, Elder, Pine Shores Presbyterian Church ~ Linda R. McLeod, Elder, Trinity Presbyterian Church, Key West ~ Ricardo Abrev, Elder, New Life Presbyterian Church, Miami ~ Eileen Clark, Elder, Goodwill Presbyterian Church ~ Ted Kowalki, Elder, Central Presbyterian Church, Miami ~ Maria Ramkissoon, Elder, All Villages Presbyterian Church, St. Lucie West ~ Phyllis Medly, Elder, PSPC ~ Sr. Sheila Kinsey, OSF, Justice, Peace & Integrity of Creation Office, Wheaton Franciscans ~ Sr. Claire Regan, Coordinator, Office of Justice and Peace, Sisters of Charity of NY ~ Sr. Lisa Kittock, Sisters of St. Joseph ~ Sr. Karen Nykiel, OSB, State Coordinator, Pax Christi, IL ~ Rosemarie Pace, Director, Pax Christi Metro New York ~ The Rev. Joachim Lally, Paulist Fathers, Manhattan, NY ~ Fr. Bob Bossie, SCJ, Priests of Sacred Heart ~ David J. Dutschke, Catholic Charities Parish Social Ministry, Archdiocese of Louisville ~ Woodridge United Methodist Church, Woodridge, IL ~ The Rev. Dr. Marti Scott, Euclid United Methodist Church, Oak Park, IL ~ The Rev. Matthew R. Lang, First Presbyterian Church of Des Plaines, IL ~ The Rev. Emmy Lou Belcher, DuPage Unitarian Universalist Church ~ The Rev. Alan L. Streyffeler, Minister of Social Witness, Community United Methodist Church, Naperville, IL ~ Mike Ryder, Director, Outreach & Social Justice, St. Thomas Apostle Catholic Church ~ Bettina Mulle, Social Justice Committee, Nature Coast Unitarian Universalists of Lecanto, Florida ~ The Rev. Thomas E. Babler, Senior Pastor, Community United Methodist Church, Naperville, IL ~ Cathy Madigan Eagle, Worship Leader, Grace United Methodist Church, Cape Coral ~ John & Ellen McNally, Call to Action of SW Florida ~ The Rev. Jamie Bagley, Carl's Corner Community Fellowship Bridgeton, NJ ~ Deborah L. Little, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Stony Brook, NY ~ The Rev. Elizabeth O'Neill, Immanuel Presbyterian Church, Montgomery ~ The Rev. Steven McClelland, First Presbyterian Church of Hackensack, NJ ~ The Rev. K. Jeanne Person, Church of the Holy Trinity, New York ~ The The Rev. Jeffrey A. Geary, Setauket Presbyterian Church, Long Island, NY ~ The Rev. K. Jeanne Person, Church of the Holy Trinity, New York ~ The Rev. W. Frisby Hendricks, III, Vicar, All Saints' Church, Jensen Beach, Florida.