Burger King / The struggle for farmworkers, 1 cent more

[Led-Zeppelin]

Why don't the farmers go on strike, why must we as the consumer be compelled to take action for them?

 

 

 

I'm sure if BK wasn't getting any tomatoes they'd give them a raise..

[waf1le]

Why don't the farmers go on strike, why must we as the consumer be compelled to take action for them?

 

 

 

I'm sure if BK wasn't getting any tomatoes they'd give them a raise..

 

 

 

For a pretty obvious reason.

 

Why start out with going on strike, when instead you can use less harmful methods. If the farmers already go on strike, that means they're losing wat little money they get, and Burger King looses a lot of tomatoes which makes them extra mad.

 

 

 

Probably they would give them a raise if they're weren't getting any tomatoes but I think the farmworkers are trying to be nice, and give BK a chance before striking.

[Led-Zeppelin]

Mate, if you want it, go and get it. Being nice and giving them a chance to give them a raise? How long have they been waiting for one now, since 1978?

 

 

 

Yeah, me thinks a strike is in order. If we're not buying BK (lets face it, a hell of alot of people would have to boycott it for them to take notice) the farmers are still missing out anyway.

[waf1le]

Mate, if you want it, go and get it. Being nice and giving them a chance to give them a raise? How long have they been waiting for one now, since 1978?

 

 

 

Yeah, me thinks a strike is in order. If we're not buying BK (lets face it, a hell of alot of people would have to boycott it for them to take notice) the farmers are still missing out anyway.

 

 

 

I agree with you, I think Burger King is going to tell the workers if they're going to get a raise or not, if they say no I'm guessing a mass strike and boycott will take place.

[Mercifull]

Boycotts rarely work. The companies can out last the people that choose to boycott them and also 99% of people (figure plucked from the air) choose to ignore the boycott and you will always find people eating inside their restaurants. The only thing that the farmers can do is to go though the unions and strike. And even then they are at risk of BK calling their bluff and going to another supplier who will grow the tommies for that price.

[Defender2516]

What I think personally the farmers should do is set aside some of their land to last them for a year, then do that every year. The rest sell to the market other than BK. That way they don't starve and also get some cash comming in.

 

 

 

I hate companies and corperations so much.. they will hurt people to get money. I can't see why people don't see that. Not all are like that, but most.

[BlueLancer]

What I think personally the farmers should do is set aside some of their land to last them for a year, then do that every year. The rest sell to the market other than BK. That way they don't starve and also get some cash comming in.

 

 

 

That's a good and practical idea. :) But sadly, most of the people working on farms that provide the goods to BK aren't landowners. They're hired by the farmer, and they can take home any extra vegetables they want (within reasonable quantity) for personal consumption...

 

 

 

The land it's farmed on, stays with his/her employer though.

[waf1le]

What I think personally the farmers should do is set aside some of their land to last them for a year, then do that every year. The rest sell to the market other than BK. That way they don't starve and also get some cash comming in.

 

 

 

That's a good and practical idea. :) But sadly, most of the people working on farms that provide the goods to BK aren't landowners. They're hired by the farmer, and they can take home any extra vegetables they want (within reasonable quantity) for personal consumption...

 

 

 

The land it's farmed on, stays with his/her employer though.

 

 

 

Right, the employers aren't that great.

[Led-Zeppelin]

Would it even go as far as BK owns the land the farmers farm?

[Ambassadar]

Every single person in this thread has completely ignored supply and demand.

 

 

 

When the supply is high and the demand is low then prices stay the same or drop. When demand rises prices rise. Ignore Burger King for now. The question is why has the salary not increased since 1978? My guess is their profit margins have dropped because the supply of tomatoes out there has gone up a lot which means there isn't as much profit per tomato picked which means workers can't get paid as much.

 

 

 

It's not anyone being mean or nice, it's just basic economics. The market will bear whatever price it can. My guess is Burger King could probably buy those tomatoes from Mexico or someplace else instead of Florida for the same price which is why they aren't raising what they will pay.

 

 

 

To really truly see what was going on you would need to look at the financial statements of tomato growers to see why things are the way they are and where the money is going.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did you know that HEALTHY foods is more expensive than unhealthy? Its only to get you to stay fat, depressed, drug'ed up so bad that you can't get healthy and make them "lose" sells! Cmon people! We got to think about the dollar here.

 

This is one of the most [developmentally delayed]ed statements I have read in a while. The reason organic foods are more expensive is because since they don't use the highest yielding crop techniques like chemicals then the yield per acre of farmland is lower. That means it is more expensive to grow them. That expense is passed on to the customer. It's not like a farmer has some obligation to society to grow a lower yielding crop but sell it for the same price. They are only going to do it if it makes economic sense to do it. You need to relax with the conspiracy theories and go read some business books.

[la la la]

It's impossible to compare their labor to that of slaves. Slaves were FORCED to do labor for nothing, and these people are, for some reason, choosing to pick tomatoes for extremely low profit. Maybe they should consider getting another job if they are not happy with what they are currently doing.

[Will H]

It's impossible to compare their labor to that of slaves. Slaves were FORCED to do labor for nothing, and these people are, for some reason, choosing to pick tomatoes for extremely low profit. Maybe they should consider getting another job if they are not happy with what they are currently doing.

 

 

 

Exactly. If the wages are so poor, why are these people working for BK? It's not like some kind of loyalty system or something?

 

 

 

This kind of thing is really common... everywhere. Plenty of big businesses are unkind to their employees, and this is no different.

 

 

 

We live in a cruel world, so we should just adapt away from the 'undesirables', since they sure ain't going to listen.

[Darksavior69]

It's impossible to compare their labor to that of slaves. Slaves were FORCED to do labor for nothing, and these people are, for some reason, choosing to pick tomatoes for extremely low profit. Maybe they should consider getting another job if they are not happy with what they are currently doing.

 

 

 

Exactly. If the wages are so poor, why are these people working for BK? It's not like some kind of loyalty system or something?

 

 

 

This kind of thing is really common... everywhere. Plenty of big businesses are unkind to their employees, and this is no different.

 

 

 

We live in a cruel world, so we should just adapt away from the 'undesirables', since they sure ain't going to listen.

 

Maybe it's because not everyone is qualified to do better jobs and that it's a job that needs to be done by someone?

[PuppyKing]

Meh, I dont eat tomatoes on my burgers.

[dusqi]

Sorry, Floridians shouldn't be picking tomatoes. Let the Africans/South Americans/Asians do it. The West is obsessed with its agriculture. Just let someone else do it!!

 

 

 

Something else that might be true is that since various chemicals and breeding techniques are used on the tomato plants, maybe the tomatoes are generally larger and grow closer together. This means that it's quicker to pick large quantities, so even though the amount the workers get paid per lb of tomatoes might be the same as in 1978, they might end up with more money than they used to.

[BlueLancer]

Sorry, Floridians shouldn't be picking tomatoes. Let the Africans/South Americans/Asians do it. The West is obsessed with its agriculture. Just let someone else do it!!

 

 

 

That's crazy, coming from someone as smart as you. You've either changed a lot or your tip.it account got hacked. And I thought I could profile people..

 

 

 

A lot of 'Floridians' are of african, south american and asian heritage as well. What does their ethnicity have to do with the jobs they should do?

 

 

 

Also, not all white people are well off. Millions of ethnically white people in the US have to work the same dead-end jobs as every other poor person, because they need something for feeding their families. They can't just "pick" a job, they'll take any that offers a salary/payment.

[dusqi]

Sorry, Floridians shouldn't be picking tomatoes. Let the Africans/South Americans/Asians do it. The West is obsessed with its agriculture. Just let someone else do it!!

 

 

 

A lot of 'Floridians' are of african, south american and asian heritage as well. What does their ethnicity have to do with the jobs they should do?

 

 

 

Also, not all white people are well off. Millions of ethnically white people in the US have to work the same dead-end jobs as every other poor person, because they need something for feeding their families. They can't just "pick" a job, they'll take any that offers a salary/payment.

 

 

 

 

 

Ethnicity has nothing to do with the jobs they should do. I'm not advocating some kind of racist policy where you "have" to do anything.

 

 

 

Everyone is so bothered about the "poor" western farmers/pickers that they forget that by subsidising them (either by directly giving money, by "buying british", or boycotting about western farmers' wages), you're just making it so that the rest of the world can't make any money from growing things.

 

 

 

So, you say that the Floridian tomato pickers are too uneducated to do any other job? Why doesn't anyone ever suggest that they could be sent to a few training classes then? The tomato pickers don't really want to be paid more than they're worth to pick tomatoes, they want to become more skilled so that they can go anywhere and get paid a decent wage to do something worthwhile.

 

 

 

I repeat, the Floridians should be doing other jobs. Let the poorer countries in the world do the agriculture.

 

 

 

 

 

As a sidenote, my account hasn't been hacked, but thanks for your concern :)

[BlueLancer]

 

Everyone is so bothered about the "poor" western farmers/pickers that they forget that by subsidising them (either by directly giving money, by "buying british", or boycotting about western farmers' wages), you're just making it so that the rest of the world can't make any money from growing things.

 

 

 

That's very true, and it's a serious world issue. Heck, that's one of the sole reasons why huge riots break out in cities where WTO meetings are held.

 

 

 

By using western labour-produced farm products instead of buying products from the truly poor farmers in 3rd world countries, you deprive people who have absolutely no welfare system, healthcare, anything, from keeping themselves alive.

 

 

 

This is one issue where the EU is no better than the americans; They spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year giving aid money to farmers in France, Germany, Italy, etc. to keep them in business.

 

 

 

Instead of buying vegetables and other farm products from poor countries (while retaining the same quality, and paying a lower price), people think it's good to "buy domestic". Sure, except if that farmer in the UK doesn't get enough people buying his products, he's not going to have himself and his 5 children die of hunger. He can apply for other jobs even if farming is all he's done in his life.

 

 

 

That's not quite the case in poorer countries where a lot of people have absolutely no other alternatives than either farming, maybe a shopkeeping/trading if they're lucky enough to have starting capital, or becoming a criminal.

[Flame_guy3]

Yeah burger king sucks like hell, Mcdonalds kicks its [wagon]! Quarter pounder with cheese beats any burger kings burgers [wagon].... :twisted:

[Darksavior69]

Instead of buying vegetables and other farm products from poor countries (while retaining the same quality, and paying a lower price), people think it's good to "buy domestic".

 

I'll just comment on this thing since I think you guys are oversimplifying the issue and I don't have good enough knowledge of economics to comment but saying the quality of produce you get from other countries is equal is simply not true.

[BlueLancer]

 

I'll just comment on this thing since I think you guys are oversimplifying the issue and I don't have good enough knowledge of economics to comment but saying the quality of produce you get from other countries is equal is simply not true.

 

 

 

And how exactly are products of "other countries" 'dirtier' or of a lesser quality?

 

 

 

For one example, even though it's not the most ethical company, McDonald's uses meat from Brazilian farms. They get paid far less than say, an European farmer, but the quality is just the same.

 

 

 

Unless there's something about "foreign" countries' soils and animals that I don't know, and is making the vegetables and anything that roams on their land, junk.

[dusqi]

Instead of buying vegetables and other farm products from poor countries (while retaining the same quality, and paying a lower price), people think it's good to "buy domestic".

 

I'll just comment on this thing since I think you guys are oversimplifying the issue and I don't have good enough knowledge of economics to comment but saying the quality of produce you get from other countries is equal is simply not true.

 

 

 

Well, presumably the Floridian tomatoes aren't great since they're going to Burger King ;)

 

 

 

More generally, a potato is a potato is a potato. I'm not saying that experts can't tell the difference, but I imagine that most people will find it easier to tell the difference between different brands of mp3 players than they would between the taste of different potatoes.

[Ambassadar]

Unless there's something about "foreign" countries' soils and animals that I don't know, and is making the vegetables and anything that roams on their land, junk.

 

 

 

One example would be don't eat any kind of seafood from China.

 

 

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19487107/

[IGoddessI]

Why stop at just hungry jacks? What about the coffee beans as well? You can purchase oxfam coffee beans where 81% of your dollar goes back in to helping developing communities become self efficient.

 

 

 

Instead of giving my $4.80 to the coffee club I try to be fair and buy from both places.

 

 

 

Afterall, wouldn't you agree it's equally just as unfair not to help your own country survive on their crappy award wages?

 

 

 

McDonald's uses meat from Brazilian farms.

 

 

 

That also depends on which country you're from! In Australia, it's 100% Australian Beef.

[BlueLancer]

Unless there's something about "foreign" countries' soils and animals that I don't know, and is making the vegetables and anything that roams on their land, junk.

 

 

 

One example would be don't eat any kind of seafood from China.

 

 

 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19487107/

 

 

 

The officials said there was no immediate health risk and stopped short of ordering an outright ban.

 

 

 

This year, British cows had caught mad cow's disease as well and the EU imposed export sanctions on other british dairy products too. That doesn't mean you shouldn't touch british meat.

 

 

 

An exception doesn't make a rule... Most Chinese seafood, just as most British meat, is fine and consumable food.