EDITORIAL: UNLV flies high as voices rise 
November 9, 2009 by Editorial staff
On our way to our Student Union offices yesterday morning, we were greeted by the sounds of chanting in protest. As fans of student activism (see our Oct. 29 editorial, for just one example), we were both pleased and curious.
We were met by members of the UNLV student organization United Coalition for Im/migrant Rights and other individuals from the community, just outside of Chipotle Mexican Grill, who were speaking out against the wages paid to the Florida farm workers who harvest tomatoes for the restaurant’s supplier.
They told us farm workers in Immokalee, Fla. have not had a raise in 30 years and that to make enough to equal the $7.50 minimum wage in the area, the workers would have to pick and haul 5,800 pounds of tomatoes – more than two tons.
The protestors argued that these workers have been denied labor rights and that the leaders of the Chipotle restaurant chain have not agreed to raise the wages by one cent, despite what they have told the media.
The students asked that we not eat at Chipotle to help prevent these alleged abuses.
Well, what could we do?
We thanked them for the information, walked to another restaurant to get food and came back to our offices to start working on the story on page 2 that explains the students’ efforts.
Our point here is not primarily whether the allegations about Chipotle are true or false. This is proof of an even bigger level of cause and effect: students spoke out and people listened.
Whether it’s migrant workers’ rights, budget cuts or environmental protection, the voices in this community are loud – and they’re only getting louder.
Backed by the prestige of the Brookings Institution and the Lincy Institute, ideas about the future of our communities are finding a strong foundation at UNLV. And the success of the Invent the Future Campaign points to the rising tide of ambition, determination and creativity that is taking UNLV upward, toward the fellowship of this country’s finest higher education institutions.
And this university provides opportunities for those still looking for meaningful endeavors, too. Here, every cause can have an advocate and every advocate can find a cause – it’s a testament to the diversity of character and creed that makes the UNLV student body unique, and a standout institution in the American Southwest.
Chipotle has always been committed to working with suppliers who raise animals and grow produce in ways that demonstrate respect for farmers and farm workers, animals, and the environment. That’s why we cut a deal in September to improve wages for workers who pick our Florida tomatoes. You can read more about that here: http://tinyurl.com/yevdw7z
-Chris Arnold, Chipotle Spokesman
The reason why chipotle “cut a deal in September”, as Chris Arnold says, is not because Chipotle has “always been committed” to “respect for farmers and farm workers.” If that were true Chipotle would have done something to address the human rights crisis faced by Florida’s tomato pickers back when the Coalition of Immokalee Workers first asked them to – that was in February of 2006.
A more accurate explanation of why Chipotle “cut a deal” is because they were facing growing public outrage and bad publicitiy for their refusal to do anything. Chipotle couldn’t continue doing what it was doing – basically nothing. But Instead taking the necessary steps of working with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (a grassroots farmworker organization in Florida) to create a robust program like other companies like Compass Group and McDonald’s have done that improves wages, protect workers human rights and ensures farmworkers have a voice at the table where decisions are made that impact their lives, Chipotle took the most minimal step possible so that they could claim they’ve addressed the issue – like Chris is doing now.
The details of what’s NOT included in chipotle’s “deal” reveal how insincere Chipotle is about “respecting farmworkers.” First and foremost, farmworkers are not included in the deal: farmworkers have no role in the development, monitoring or enforcement of labor rights standards under Chipotle’s terms. How can you claim to respect farmworkers when you refuse to listen to their voice and treat them like peons in need of charity? Secondly, there is no accountability, binding commitment or transparency: chipotle claims to be contributing to a wage increase for Florida farmworkers but: it is unwilling to provide any way to verify that through a system of reporting on where and in what quantities it gets in tomatoes; Chipotle could at any time stop contributing to a wage increase and in unwilling to guarantee that it will not. Finally, Chipotle’s deal does not include any verifiable, enforceable standards for working conditions and human rights protections developed with the input from the CIW – a highly respected organization in the area of human rights. Compare that to Compass Group who’s agreed with the CIW to implement a groundbreaking set of standards for Compass’ tomato suppliers. Why won’t Chipotle take the same bold steps that other companies have if it truly wants to see its suppliers respect farmworkers?
Clearly Chipotle’s actions are more designed to try to salvage its image and confuse the public about the issue than to show respect for farmworkers. Chipotle is “fairwashing” its image – they’re doing minimal improvements to create a exterior veneer of “fairness” while hiding the rotten underbelly in which farmworkers are still ignored and belitted.
I wish Chris Arnold would stop spreading such misleading information; it’d be easier to just cooperate with the CIW. I can only speculate as to why Chipotle doesn’t.
For for commentary see:
http://denverfairfood.blogspot.com/2009/10/our-tomatoes-are-picked-by-slaves.html
http://denverfairfood.blogspot.com/2009/09/celebrating-victory-while-continuing-to.html
denverfairfood.blogspot.com in general