The Burger King burglary
Daniel Foster
Issue date: 4/29/08 Section: Opinions
Consumers have another reason to be suspicious of the creepy "Burger King," the fast food chain's mascot who, according to the commercial, wakes up in strangers' beds with a maniacal grin on his face. In addition to a controversy involving tomato farmer's wages, the king has come under fire for spying.
In a recent Democracy Now! interview, activists from labor rights groups in Florida accused Burger King of attempting to infiltrate their ranks. The Student/Farmworker Alliance based in Florida say that two people contacted their group posing as students interested in gaining access to a conference call. After being pressed for basic information the first caller, who said he was from West Virginia, was never heard from again. The call actually originated from Davie, Fla., only miles away from Burger King's headquarters in Miami.
The second caller, only three days after the first caller, posed as a student in Broward County in Florida. Like the first caller, she was interested in gaining access to the conference call. The caller's name is Cara Schaffer and is the president of a Florida "security" firm called Diplomatic Tactical Services.
Activists in the Student/Farmworker Alliance believe they were targeted because of their coordination with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a community-based labor rights group in Florida. The CIW advocates wage increases for Florida tomato pickers. According to a letter on their website, the farmers endure "sub-poverty wages, no raise in nearly 30 years, and denial of fundamental labor rights." The letter is addressed to Burger King, which is a "major purchaser of Florida tomatoes."
After CIW successfully secured wage increases for the workers from Taco Bell and McDonald's in 2005 and 2007, respectively, the group now focuses its resources on Burger King. However, Burger King is adamantly opposed to any wage increase despite the intense campaign against it featuring petitions, boycotts, demonstrations, and U.S. Senate hearings.
In a recent Democracy Now! interview, activists from labor rights groups in Florida accused Burger King of attempting to infiltrate their ranks. The Student/Farmworker Alliance based in Florida say that two people contacted their group posing as students interested in gaining access to a conference call. After being pressed for basic information the first caller, who said he was from West Virginia, was never heard from again. The call actually originated from Davie, Fla., only miles away from Burger King's headquarters in Miami.
The second caller, only three days after the first caller, posed as a student in Broward County in Florida. Like the first caller, she was interested in gaining access to the conference call. The caller's name is Cara Schaffer and is the president of a Florida "security" firm called Diplomatic Tactical Services.
Activists in the Student/Farmworker Alliance believe they were targeted because of their coordination with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a community-based labor rights group in Florida. The CIW advocates wage increases for Florida tomato pickers. According to a letter on their website, the farmers endure "sub-poverty wages, no raise in nearly 30 years, and denial of fundamental labor rights." The letter is addressed to Burger King, which is a "major purchaser of Florida tomatoes."
After CIW successfully secured wage increases for the workers from Taco Bell and McDonald's in 2005 and 2007, respectively, the group now focuses its resources on Burger King. However, Burger King is adamantly opposed to any wage increase despite the intense campaign against it featuring petitions, boycotts, demonstrations, and U.S. Senate hearings.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
sean
posted 5/01/08 @ 10:50 AM EST
Nice article - One small point of clarification, though. There actually have been federally prosecuted forced labor cases in the North Carolina tomato industry, too, so the fact that your campus BK sources "locally" is no guarantee of humane treatment of its workers. (Continued…)
marc
posted 5/01/08 @ 12:40 PM EST
Nice article Daniel, thanks for taking the time to write this. Sean is correct in his follow-up comment, but I would take it one step further.
If you think about it, for simple reasons of climate, North Carolina can only produce tomatoes for about 2 or 3 months out of the year - in the dead of summer. (Continued…)
Nielad
Daniel Foster
posted 6/05/08 @ 12:17 PM EST
Thank you both for the comments and constructive suggestions. Perhaps I'll write a follow up article next semester including the points ya'll made.
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