Aramark campaign reflection; Publix as Scrooge?

[Marc Rodrigues]

From Colorado to Texas to Florida, the Campaign for Fair Food boils over with action! Be sure to visit the SFA site -- http://sfalliance.org -- for all the breaking news.

In this update:

1) Nominate Publix Supermarkets as "Scrooge of the Year!" (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9JZWGC5)
2) An important update and reflection on the Aramark campaign...

1) Nominate Publix Supermarkets as "Scrooge of the Year!"

It's easy - just click here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/9JZWGC5

Each year, national Jobs with Justice gives an "award" to the greediest, most cold-hearted company or person of the year.  Past winners of this dubious honor include: Wal-Mart, George W. Bush, and Goodyear Tire & Rubber.  Jobs with Justice National is now accepting nominations for the 2009 "Scrooge of the Year" contest.

Why Publix? Well, there's its refusal to work with the CIW, its head-in-the-sand attitude when faced with the reality of farmworker exploitation, the fact that it's the 10th-largest privately-owned corporation in the US (with revenues of $20 BILLION+), and its continuing purchasing of tomatoes from two of the growers tainted by last year's modern-day slavery prosecution.

And because, when confronted by farmworkers and its own customers about the human rights crisis in Florida's fields, Publix has shown just how ugly and Scrooge-like it can get. For more, read "Publix vs. Publix" (http://www.ciw-online.org/#112409), a must-read analysis from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

2) An important update and reflection on the Aramark campaign...

Finally, today, we leave you with an important update and reflection on the Aramark campaign in light of last week's call-in days of action and the peculiar response many of you received from the corporation in the form of a pre-recorded message.

Visit the SFA site (http://sfalliance.org) to read the entire reflection.

Here's a selection:

"...There's a certain tinge to recent declarations from Aramark that we should be mindful of. There's no better way to encapsulate what we are demanding of Aramark than to turn to the words of Reverend Noelle Damico at the ceremony announcing of the CIW-Compass agreement:

The mutual respect that is demonstrated in this agreement and at this signing is the fuel that will propel the promise of this agreement into its reality... This agreement is significant because it reminds our society of the fundamental dignity and equality we share as human beings. This is not an agreement in which farmworkers are "done unto." Farmworkers have been full partners in the creation of this agreement and will be full partners in its implementation, because the agreement and its partners recognize each other as human beings who are entitled to respect, voice, and participation.

Time -- and our continued involvement in this campaign -- will tell if Aramark embraces that spirit of mutual respect or continues to defer the just demands of farmworkers and their allies.

-- 
Marc Rodrigues | Student/Farmworker Alliance | (239) 292-3431
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