JourneyOnline
US church leaders are lauding a wage agreement between the McDonald’s fast-food chain and a group representing migrant farm workers in the state of Florida.
The agreement between McDonald’s USA and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers requires the restaurant chain to pay one US cent more for every pound of tomatoes picked by the farm workers, a move that will double the farm workers’ wages.
The agreement announced this week follows a similar agreement in 2005 between the workers’ coalition and Yum Brands, the corporate owners of the Taco Bell fast-food chain. The cause of improving conditions for farm workers has been taken up by a number of US religious bodies, including the US Presbyterian Church and the National Council of Churches.
In a statement, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, stated clerk of the Presbyterian church said the agreement "may be the tipping point for the entire fast-food industry in a real move toward human rights and fair food for everyone".
Still, the Rev. Robert Edgar, NCC general secretary, cautioned that the latest agreement was a good start but that more needs to be done to improve conditions for farm workers in the United States.
"There are many thousands of other workers – our brothers and sisters who pick the food over which we say grace at our dinner tables – who must still settle for poverty level wages, deplorable living conditions and unsafe working conditions,"
(c) Ecumenical News International
Photo : WORLD NEWS
