Chipotle- Now 64% Better as They Increase Payments to Tomato Pickers
I love Chipotle. I'm not actually the biggest organic, fresh food advocate but they almost make me a believer. So I was not happy a month or two ago when it came out that they were buying tomotoes from super low-wage pickers.
But under pressure of boycott by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a community-based organization that has led a campaign to improve wages and working conditions for Florida farm workers, Chipotle agreed to pay an additional penny per pound, a wage increase of 64 percent for workers picking tomatoes for Chipotle.
One of the reasons I ignore the constant drumbeat of negative speculation about the future of unions (which has lasted pretty much non-stop for well over a century or more) is that workers keep standing up and organizing and winning, yes suffering setbacks on occasion, but then moving forward as well.
"I love Chipolte."
- It shows, very clearly.
You misspell their name four times.
http://www.chipotle.com
September 10, 2009 11:28 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ah-- thank you. Fixed.
September 10, 2009 11:52 AM | Reply | Permalink
Chipotle is OK for a chain.
Even here in the Upper Midwest, there are locally-owned places that do really good Mexican - owned and run by actual Mexicans, no less, that I prefer given the chance.
Still, on the road I'd do a Chipotle burrito, no doubt.
September 10, 2009 3:32 PM | Reply | Permalink
I definitely don't think of it has the best Mexican food available, but more as a healthy meal alternative, especially when you ditch the tortilla for their salad bowl version. But it is true that their meat tastes distinctly healthier than most alternatives, which is a pleasant option at times.
September 10, 2009 5:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Idiot me -- I thought that chipotle peppers themselves (eg the chipotle sauce at Chili's that I should never have b/c I'm diabetic, but do anyway) were being boycotted and that I was being politically incorrect by indulging
Well, now I know I wasn't even sinning all along
On a more serious note -- it seems to me that all these issues need to be dealt with in legislation. The conditions that farmworkers are forced to face completely contradicts all the mainstream legislation protecting labor; if Ted Kennedy were still around, I'd imagine that this would be among the many things that FINALLY, after almost 40 years of limited progressive governance (since Nixon assumed office) were eminently possible, w/a Congress AND a president ready to move on stuff like this!
September 12, 2009 3:41 AM | Reply | Permalink