For the scores of Northwestern students who regularly chow down at the Burger King on Orrington Avenue after midnight, ordering Whoppers or Chicken Fries or Tendercrisps isn’t a matter of taste or health or good conscience. It’s a matter of convenience.
“I actually don’t like Burger King,” said second-year Kellogg student Pedro Silva from inside the fast-food joint, “But it’s the only place I find open.”
On Nov. 1, a group of NU students showed up at BK for something other than late-night sustenance. Around 15 people gathered outside, yelling slogans and holding signs written in both English and Spanish. They walked up to the manager and handed him a letter detailing what, in their minds, needs to change at BK: the conditions and salaries of workers thousands of miles away, picking tomatoes for BK menu items.
“I don’t think it’s just for a large corporation to profit at the expense of their laborers, be it tomato pickers, or anyone,” said Lexi Carlson, a fifth-year student in Weinberg and Music, and an organizer of the protest.
The protesters — mainly members of Students for Economic Justice — were taking part in the “King Doom Days of Action,” a national movement sponsored by the Student-Farmer Alliance and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Protests were held at three other Chicago-area Burger Kings. Their intent: to help tomato pickers in Immokalee, Fla., by changing labor conditions and getting them a raise of one penny per pound of tomatoes picked. They say they want to duplicate the successes the group had in the past with fast-food chains like Taco Bell. Another protest at the Evanston BK is scheduled for Dec. 1, to lend support to a large Student-Farmworkers’ Alliance rally in Miami.
But not everyone is on board. At the Nov. 1 protest, a group called “Students for a Free Market Economy” showed up to stage a counter-protest. They said the proposed Immokalee workers agreement was too reflective of socialism, as opposed to workers’ rights. The group is just one of several that take issue with the Student-Farmworkers’ goals. It’s a national controversy, but groups on both sides agree that at NU, the issue has an added angle: Burger King’s popularity among students.
“They picked a good place to attack here,” said McCormick junior Nic Holthaus, a member of the counter-protest group. “[BK] is a significant part of the community.”
Getting involved
To the NU students involved in the BK protests, the issue is human rights.
“To see the reality in which [the workers] live makes successes that much more inspiring and impressive,” Carlson said. She witnessed the conditions of the tomato pickers while visiting Immokalee over the summer. Also, she was involved in similar protests against Yum! Brands, the parent company of Taco Bell and, previously, McDonald’s.
“It really was a struggle I could participate in,” said Medill sophomore Amalia Oulahan, a member of Students for Economic Justice. Also involved in last year’s successful efforts against McDonald’s, Oulahan liked the way the Coalition of Immokalee Workers operated and chose to take part in the Burger King protests. “[The Coalition] is a good example of leadership that comes out of the community.”
Oulahan became more engaged when she met some of the Immokalee workers last spring. “It puts a face on it… It makes it more real,” she said. She noted that although many college students don’t seem to care about fair food, they can have an impact on the industry, and that the issue deserves attention.
The controversy
Founded to address poor living and working conditions, the Coalition is composed primarily of Latino and Mayan tomato pickers in Immokalee. Their successes include brokering deals with Yum! Brands and McDonald’s that include directly paying tomato pickers “a penny more per pound” and observing a working code of conduct. The Coalition has also investigated modern cases of slavery in the tomato fields.
Some dispute the Coalition’s claims regarding workers’ conditions and pay. The Florida Tomato Growers Exchange points to a government study that says tomato harvesters’ hourly wages range from $10.50 to $14.86, with an average of $12.46. However, the Coalition maintains that the price paid per bucket of tomatoes picked, about 45 cents for 32 pounds, is a more effective indicator of income, because wages are based on how much each individual produces in the fields.
“Ask a worker if it’s $12 an hour; they will laugh in your face,” said Lupe Gomez, a member of the Student Farmer Alliance, speaking on behalf of Lucas Benitez, a leader within the Coalition. Factors such as the weather, the season, the time of day and more can determine each worker’s productivity. In order to make the Florida minimum wage of $6.67, a worker would have to pick 2.5 tons of tomatoes in a day.
“The reality is you have to keep running, whether there are tomatoes or not” said Immokalee worker Gerardo Reys. He said there’s always the possibility that a harvester will have to work in a field four-times picked over.
Burger King, however, has publicly rejected the penny-per-pound deal. “Quite frankly, there’s so many legal entanglements, the workers become our employees” said Steve Grover, vice-president for food safety, quality assurance and regulatory compliance at Burger King. “We don’t want them to become our employees. We’re in the hamburger business.”
In fact, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange has said that the Taco Bell and McDonald’s deals with the Coalition are no longer in effect, citing legal concerns relating to antitrust, labor, and racketeering laws. Growers Exchange vice-president Reggie Brown said that when the agreement was in effect, the checks cut to individual workers were only between $1.70 and $6.50 per week.
“How does giving a worker an extra $100 a picking season resolve slavery?” asked Grover. He said that Burger King is willing to help improve conditions in Immokalee, but he “ethically can’t agree with an agreement that won’t work.”
The Coalition disagrees with the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, and says their deals brokered with Yum! and McDonalds are still having an effect. “The reality is that our poverty is not going to change because of the lies,” said Benitez. “If someone refuses to sit at a table, we’re going to continue our campaign”
Still the king
Back in Evanston, Burger King’s lights continue to glow round the clock, regardless of controversy over tomato pickers’ wages, and many students remain unaware.
“In general, I’d like to say that I’m surprised by the exploitation,” said Weinberg senior Georgette Argiris. “At a different point [the boycott] would have influenced me,” she said. But it all comes down to convenience.
Many students felt they were not informed enough on the issue, and that their choice to boycott would not have much of an impact. And in the end, it might just be too hard to give it up.
“It’s the legendary BK; 24 hours. It means herds of theater students coming in at four in the morning putting on musicals,” Argiris said. “It’s become an emblem of Northwestern.”