Immigration Debate Reaches Orlando (sort of)
The Orlando Farmworker Solidarity Coalition will hold a protest for farmworkers rights at “the world’s largest” McDonald’s, 6875 W. Sand Lake Rd., Orlando 32819-9349 (near the intersection of W. Sand Lake Rd. and International Dr.) , on Sat., April 1 from noon-2 p.m.
This action is being organized in conjunction with the 2006 McDonald’s Truth Tour, “The Real Rights Tour,” organized by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a community-based worker organization largely made-up of Latino, Haitian, and Mayan Indian immigrants working in low-wage jobs throughout the state of Florida. The 17-city tour (March 26-April 4) is the first major, national educational effort to build awareness among McDonald’s consumers of the urgent need for justice in Florida’s fields and of the power McDonald’s has to help raise wages and improve working conditions in those fields. The Orlando event will coincide with a major march and rally that the CIW will hold on April 1 in Chicago, the home of the McDonald’s Corp.
The farmworkers and their supporters in Chicago and Orlando will call on the fast-food giant to work with the CIW and help ESTABLISH REAL LABOR RIGHTS FOR THE WORKERS WHO PICK TOMATOES FOR McDONALD’S SUPPLIERS. The workers and their allies will be seeking:
- The right to a fair wage for the tomato harvesters, after more than
25 years of sub-poverty wages and stagnant piece rates;- The right for farmworkers to participate in the decisions that affect their lives, after decades of sweatshop conditions and humiliating labor relations;
- The right to a real code of conduct based on modern labor standards,after McDonald’s and its suppliers unilaterally imposed a hollow code of conduct comprised of minimal labor standards and suspect monitoring
For more information see the Coalition for Immokalee Workers website.
My personal thoughts on the issue at my blog.
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Is this related to the immigration debate? This sounds like people asking for fair treatment in labor, which is great and I fully support that. I didn’t see anything specifically talking about these rights for illegals, just latinos, which seems odd as there already are laws regarding that that protect all citizens regardless of ethnicity, sex, etc…
If they are in fact asking as illegal aliens within our borders, which seems to be what we’ve been seeing lately in the news, then they are entitled to nothing but the judicial system and a ride back home. Illegal aliens are criminals at best and a threat to our national security at worst. The fact that they hold jobs and are productive is beside the point. Millions upon millions of people obtain legal work visas, immigrate into our country and become naturalized and all combinations therein all the time. There is a legal process for what they want to do and that is the way they need to go about it. What makes these people in question so special that the existing laws and international borders do not apply to them? The answer is nothing, and that’s why their protests are utter crap. I fail to see why anyone is even entertaining this concept of illegal immigration as okay. It’s not, END OF STORY!
Terry,
I don’t think that it is directly related to the immigration bill and/or the protests. I think it is one of those situations where immigrants are in the news so every immigrant group around the country, regardless of their issue or fight, is putting something together in order to ride the coat tails of the protests.
While I don’t think immigrants should be able to circumvent any laws I don’t think coming to this country should be criminalized the way the bill proposes. As I wrote in my own blog thingy I think that if the incentives for corporations and other employers to hire illegals were eliminated some of the problems could be eliminated.
Illegal immigration is not okay, you are right. The solution however is not building giant fences and turning those that only wish to work and feed their families into criminals.
P.S. I noticed that you comment fairly regulary and intelligently (unlike many people that comment on controversial issues). Even if we disagree, I appreciate the debate. Thanks.