Demonstrators To Target Burger Kings in Fifteen North American Cities Saturday

(2005-04-12) Association for a More Just Society (AJS)

People across the U.S. have been demonstrating in front of Burger King restaurants in recent months to protest Burger King Corporation's apparent indifference to workers' rights violations in BK restaurants in Honduras.

Contact:
Melanie Holwerda Hommes
Association for a More Just Society (AJS)
melanie@ajshonduras.org
011 504.239.4418
www.ajshonduras.org/burgerking.htm

This Saturday, April 16, the movement will hit its biggest climax yet as groups demonstrate in front of Burger Kings in fifteen U.S. and Canadian cities simultaneously.

Demonstrators To Target Burger Kings in Fifteen North American Cities Saturday
Movement for Honduran fast-food workers’ rights growing larger by the week

On a few weekends in February, in a scattering of towns and cities across the nation, small clusters of demonstrators stood huddled together against icy winds and blowing snow in front of Burger King restaurants, waving signs and handing out flyers to alert passersby of the illegal and unjust actions of Burger Kings in the Central American country of Honduras, and of the Miami-based Burger King Corporation’s indifference to these actions.

In March, there were more demonstrations—on some days as many as five simultaneous demonstrations in different cities from New York to Chicago to Los Angeles. That month five churches and two schools also began collecting donations to help support ex-Burger King employees left destitute after being unjustly fired and illegally denied severance pay mandated by Honduran law.

And this Saturday, April 16, the movement will hit its biggest climax yet as groups acting in solidarity with mistreated Honduran fast-food workers demonstrate in front of Burger Kings in fifteen U.S. and Canadian cities simultaneously.

What is eating at these people enough to make them stop eating at Burger King? And to make them instead stand outside the burger joints waving signs and dealing with disgruntled passers-by, some for the third time in as many months?

Maybe its got something to do with the way Burger King Corporation and its franchisee in Honduras get fatter by the day (one imagines that the customers in these restaurants do, too, especially with the introduction in the U.S. of the 730-calorie "Enormous Omelet Sandwich") while 9 illegally fired Honduran Burger King workers and their families get closer and closer to starvation.

Last year, 27 employees of Burger King, Church’s Chicken, and Little Caesar’s in Tegucigalpa, Honduras’ capital city, were fired without just cause, pre-notification, or exit pay, all required by Honduran law. In a country where unemployment is in the double digits and the minimum wage is only $120 a month, losing a job and having no exit pay to fall back on can be a quick route to starvation.

The franchises involved are all run in Honduras by one company, Tourism Investments (INTUR).

BK Corp. has denied responsibility for the situation despite the fact that both BK Corp. president Greg Brenneman and BK Corp.'s website (www.bk.com) have made public commitments to supporting BK workers' rights in all BK restaurants—not just those owned directly by the corporation.

Friends of the Association for a More Just Society (AJS), a Honduran legal aid organization representing the mistreated workers, say such behavior is unacceptable.

"Here is a thought: Last time the burger king manager said that it was not fair that BK lose money here for something that happened in Honduras. It is ironic that we can import our fast food but we are not concerned that employees of Burger King elsewhere are treated fairly," said Jotham Ippel, who has led several demonstrations in Grand Rapids, Mich.

"Under the law it is clear that these workers are entitled to severance pay. It is unjust to deny them their pay and allow them and their families to starve. Silence in the face of injustice allows the injustice to persist," said Russ Jacobs of New York, N.Y.

"As Christians and as citizens of this country, we have a moral obligation to not only care about what happens to people around the world, but also to hold our corporations accountable. It's not about charity or good works, but about loving our neighbors as ourselves because we have a responsibility to do so," said Betsie Frei of Santa Barbara, Calif.

"We are getting involved in the protests because we are concerned about justice for all people. This particular case is of concern since these folks are already trying to live on a very limited income and now even that is being denied," said Jan Hommes of Denver, Colo.

Cities where demonstrations will be held in front of Burger King on Saturday, April 16 include the following:

Denver, Colo.
Grand Rapids, Mich.
Holland, Mich.
Kent, Ohio
Mesa, Ariz.
New York, N.Y.
Philadelphia, Penn.
Portland, Oreg.
Princeton, N.J.
Rockford, Mich.
Santa Barbara, Calif.
Sunset Hills, Mo.
Washington, D.C.
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

As well as handing out information about the case to customers and passers-by, the demonstrators will request that Burger King restaurant managers call BK Corp. headquarters and inform them of the demonstrators' concerns. In most of the previous demonstrations Burger King managers have been happy to cooperate and the interaction between them and the protestors has been friendly.

The demonstrations in North America will come on the heels of a demonstration in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, on Thursday, April 14.

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Association for a More Just Society (AJS)
Tegucigalpa, Honduras

Contact:
Melanie Holwerda Hommes
Association for a More Just Society (AJS)
melanie@ajshonduras.org
011 504.239.4418
www.ajshonduras.org/burgerking.htm

Association for a More Just Society was founded in 1999 by a group of individuals in Honduras and the US who strive to extend justice for the poor in Honduras by using legal and media channels.