Hamburgled

Sometimes I think the most creative people in the world are social justice activists.

Take these cats at the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), who staged a Thanksgiving protest/demonstration during Chicago's annual Thanksgiving parade. McDonald's happened to be the lead co-sponsor of the parade, and also target number one of the CIW.

The CIW has been trying to dialogue with McDonald's for the past two years over the labor conditions and wages of the farmers who pick the produce that's used in McDonald's supply chain. These farmers are not employed by McDonald's. Nonetheless, the campaign is an effort to get companies like McDonald's to use their considerable influence to ensure that their food providers are treated fairly, equitably, and humanely.

McDonald's has refused to dialogue with the CIW, though. As a result, CIW activists, including "Ronaldo the Clown" - Ronald's "ethical half-brother" according to the CIW - descended on this McDonald's sponsored parade with a message: dialogue with us, bitches.

There are some great photos here. The CIW passed out flyers during the parade, educating parade spectators on the efforts made by McDonald's to silence farmworker organizers, and push them away from the negotiating table.

If you're interested in writing your local McDonald's a letter (and we all have a local McDonald's, unless we live on the last space of pristine earth around!), you can download a template here. The CIW is encouraging folks to speak out about the rights of farmworkers. One letter to a local manager might not mean much, but the action reverberates up the corporate ladder. These tactics worked successfully against Taco Bell, and though it took more than four years, CIW activists were able to get Taco Bell to come out and support efforts to make work more humane, just and fair for the workers who supply the restaurant with its food.

Let's make McDonald's do the same.