After 15 years, a Wendy鈥檚 at Florida Atlantic University will remain closed for good following student protests over the chain鈥檚 tomatoes. Pressure ramped up last month after farmworkers and supporters marched through the Town of Palm Beach, urging Wendy's to join a program that prevents labor abuse.
In April, farmworkers came from across the state to march with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers through the wealthy Town of Palm Beach, near the home of Wendy鈥檚 board chairman Nelson Peltz.
Around 400 people joined CIW, chanting, 鈥淲endy's escucha! Estamos en la lucha!" (鈥淲endy鈥檚 鈥� listen! We are in the fight!鈥�).
Artists, faith communities, and college students all urged the chain to join the . It鈥檚 an initiative in the tomato industry that improves labor standards and protects workers from farm labor abuses, such as wage theft and sexual abuse from supervisors.
CIW organizer Lupe Gonzalo worked in the tomato fields of Immokalee for years. Melody Gonzalez, who helped organize the protest for CIW, interpreted what Gonzalo had to say.
鈥淪ome of the supervisors, for example, would tell the women like, oh, you can clean the bus instead, or you can come in my car. I鈥檒l give you this easier job, or if you go out with me, you鈥檒l get a better wage,鈥� Gonzalo said. 鈥淚n more extreme cases, women that face rape in the fields. So much that women have held in and don鈥檛 bring out into the light due to fear. It鈥檚 fear of losing their jobs.鈥�
Over the years, CIW has had success enlisting college students to persuade corporate buyers like Taco Bell and Walmart to pay an extra 鈥減enny per pound鈥� of tomatoes. Growers use that premium to increase pay, provide extra water and shade and a 24-hour hotline for reports of abuse. The Fair Food Program also includes mandatory farm audits.
鈥淛ust sign on to the Fair Food Program and treat these workers with human decency,鈥� said Charles Burggraff, who recently graduated from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton with his Master鈥檚 degree in Sociology.
Burggraff, who also attended the march, is one of the organizers for the Student Farmworker Alliance, a national coalition of student advocates with a group at FAU.
Pressure against Wendy鈥檚 at FAU started before Burggraff joined the effort. In 2019, the university鈥檚 student government passed a that recommended the removal of the Wendy鈥檚 on campus.
But there was no further action. Burggraff and other leaders in the SFA spoke to 港澳天下彩after the university announced Wendy鈥檚 departure from campus.
鈥淭hese campuses rely on student turnover,鈥� Burggraff said. 鈥淪o when one graduating class has a movement like it did in 2019 to make that resolution, it could have just easily been swept under the rug and wait until the next generation of kids come in and have forgetten about it.鈥�
Annabelle Chambelle is a Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at FAU and one of the leaders of the Student Farmworker Alliance or SFA. She said the Wendy鈥檚 in FAU鈥檚 Breezeway food court has been empty since the start of the pandemic.
鈥淭otally shut down. Empty. Lights off. Nobody's working,鈥� Chambelle said. 鈥淭hey're still like in the food court with the signage and everything. You very much know it's a Wendy's, but there's nobody there.鈥�
A Wendy鈥檚 spokesperson told 港澳天下彩that the decision to close was made by a franchise operator for 鈥渁 variety of business reasons.鈥� And an FAU spokesperson said a Steak 鈥榥 Shake will replace Wendy鈥檚.
Chartwells, the school's food provider, did not respond to WLRN鈥檚 request for comment. On their main website, Chartwells expressed their of the Fair Food Program. The mission statement said they are 鈥減roud supporters of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and the Fair Food initiative.鈥�
Students say any new restaurant on campus should join the Fair Food Program: Steak 'n Shake has not, and students aren鈥檛 limiting their activism to FAU, which is why they marched on Palm Beach island.
鈥淲e can change the way our supply chains work,鈥� Chambelle said. 鈥淎nd we can ensure workers' rights. We can ensure living wages, and it's really not that hard. We just need cooperation.鈥�
In a statement to WLRN, Wendy's said it relies on third-party reviews of suppliers鈥� farm labor practices. The company said it does not participate in the Fair Food Program because Wendy鈥檚 North American tomatoes come from indoor greenhouses, not fields.
But CIW said Wendy鈥檚 audits are voluntary and lack worker input and that greenhouse workers deserve the same protections as other farmworkers.
Sunveer Virk, an undergrad student majoring in political science, is also an outspoken leader within the SFA. He helped pass out flyers the week of the protest and said the march made a significant impact on campus and the labor movement.
鈥淪howing people in the labor struggle, in the social justice struggle, that there is a way out, that there is success in the end, it gives people hope,鈥� Virk said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 one of the most important impacts of this march.鈥�
Trey Donnelly, a grad student in the sociology department, calls the results of their protest a potential 鈥渄omino effect.鈥�
And Burggraff believes a new generation of students may keep up the pressure.
鈥淗opefully, even after I graduate, there will be another generation of students continuing to fight this fight until Wendy鈥檚 signs on,鈥� Burggraff said.
CLARIFICATION: An earlier version of this story included the headline, 鈥淪tudent protest led to Wendy鈥檚 removal from Florida Atlantic University.鈥� A spokesperson for Wendy鈥檚 argued the chain鈥檚 departure from FAU was not related to student protests. FAU did not respond to questions about why Wendy鈥檚 left and whether student activism played a role. The headline has been updated for clarity.
