Behind the Braids: Wendy’s Fast Food Boycott Arrives In New Jersey

ESSEX COUNTY, NJ — “Behind the Braids,” a national boycott campaign against fast food restaurant giant Wendy’s in the name of “fair food” sourcing, is due to arrive in New Jersey on Monday.

Dozens of local high school and college students, religious leaders, and community members are expected to gather for a “lively, colorful picket” at the Wendy’s in Bloomfield at 147 Bloomfield Avenue around 4:30 p.m. to call attention to the consumer boycott of the fast-food giant, according to organizers.

The Bloomfield protest is one of several planned to take place in 20 cities throughout the United States this autumn. So far, “tens of thousands of consumers” have pledged to join the boycott, which was recently endorsed by the National Council of Churches, organizers stated.

The tour is a collaborative effort spearheaded by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), who are working in concert with the Alliance for Fair Food and the Montclair Fair Food Alliance in New Jersey.

WHY ARE THEY PROTESTING?

Protesters are calling for Wendy’s to join the CIW’s Fair Food Program, a “worker-designed solution to longstanding human rights abuses” that recently garnered a Presidential Medal and high praise from U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry for its “extraordinary efforts in combating human trafficking.”

The program - a partnership between farmers, farm workers and retail food companies – aims to ensure humane wages and conditions for the workers who pick fruits and vegetables on participating farms that supply ingredients for fast food restaurants such as Wendy’s.

According to organizers, several of Wendy’s top competitors have signed on to the program, including McDonald’s, Burger King, Taco Bell, Subway and Chipotle.

However, Wendy’s has repeatedly refused to join the program, instead opting to stop purchasing supplies from Florida and shift purchases to Mexico, where “human rights violations are endemic and go largely unchecked,” organizers say.

“Wendy’s is quick to offer their Supplier Code of Conduct released last year as their substitute for the Fair Food Program – and their reason for not joining,” said CIW spokesperson Nely Rodriguez. “But without any effective measures for enforcement or worker participation, Wendy’s code does not measure up to a commitment to the Fair Food Program.”

As an example, Rodriguez pointed to the program’s stipulation that requires retailers to purchase tomatoes “exclusively from growers that abide by a worker-designed code of conduct that includes zero tolerance for forced labor and sexual assault.”

The Wendy’s Supplier Code of Conduct can be seen online here.

“Wendy’s expects suppliers to use best practices in all aspects of their operations and to conduct business in a way that is consistent with the values of Wendy’s and our franchisees, and the strong ethical principles established by our founder, Dave Thomas,” the company states.

A Monday email request for comment to The Wendy’s Company was not returned.

Photo: Google Earth

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