Bishops urge McDonald's to work for better wages for tomato pickers

Published: 2006-10-18

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The nation's bishops have asked the McDonald's Corp., the world's largest fast-food restaurant chain, to work for better wages and working conditions for the Florida workers who pick the tomatoes used at McDonald's. "McDonalds and other major food companies do not directly set farmworkers' wages and working conditions," said a letter from Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, N.Y., to McDonald's CEO James Skinner. "But with your substantial purchasing power, you can insist that your produce suppliers meet high ethical standards in how they treat their workers." Bishop DiMarzio added, "Farmworkers should participate in setting and monitoring those standards, as workers know best the conditions to be remedied." The bishop is chairman of the bishops' Committee on Domestic Policy. The letter was released in Washington Sept. 29. He urged McDonald's to work with the Florida agricultural industry and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a Florida-based organization of farmworkers focused on just wages and better labor conditions.

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