A Penny a pound for tomatoe pickers

[Oldman]

After reading this article today in the ST. Petersburg Times http://www.sptimes.com/2007/11/25/Opinion/At_a_penny_per_pound_.shtml I had to write to Burger King.

The following is my letter.

Greetings,

First, I would like to comment that there is nothing like a fresh Whopper. It beats the other guys burger(s) hands down. However, after reading the Robyn  Blumner article in the ST. Petersburg times, At a penny per pound a little adds up to a lot I must fess up that this is one Whopper I can not swallow. In this area the other guy has got you beat. The main thrust of this article is an extra penny per pound for tomatoe pickers.

My problem with Burger King's stance on this issue is two fold. My understanding from Ms. Blumner's article is that currently the average worker earns between $10,000.00 to $12,500.00 per year. It goes without saying that no American would work for these type of wages. I further understand from this article that a penny more per pound would double these wages. The question now arises would American citizens work for $20,000.00 to $25,000.00 per year? Would the work ethics rise to a higher standard?  The answer to both question is yes. Please allow me to justify this "yes."

In my industry we are janitors. It goes without saying that many of our competitors employ illegal aliens. They are worked long hours for short wages. If they are lucky they are paid $6.67 per hour here in Florida. In our company, save but two, all employees are US citizens. NOT one illegal alien in our company.

How is this possible in our field? It is called a living wage. Furthermore, we offer full benefits to include health insurance. When we run an ad for employment we have US Citizens line up like ducks in a shooting gallery for the job. I mean in the hundreds. You can take this to the bank, doing this costs a lot more than an extra penny per pound.

What are the benefits for the company? I cannot remember the last time we had a facility manager call us with a complaint. Our equipment is clean and well taken care of. Our employees are polite and pleasant to our customers and to their employees. It would seem to me that motivated employees would be more careful and judicial when picking tomatoes.

Here is a novel idea. Why not have  Burger King say "We are not going to pay a penny more per pound but a penny and a quarter more per pound so that the Americans that pick tomatoes can have a living wage with benefits to include health insurance."  I will bet you a dollar to a dime that if you put this to a vote with the American people they would say yes I'm willing to pay a penny and a quarter more.

Let's put this in perspective; you are more than likely purchasing 10 - 12 ounce tomatoes and you should be getting 8 slices per tomatoe. What does this add to your food cost? 1/16 to 1/8 cent per sandwich?

The second reason this Whopper is something I cannot swallow is according to the article that at a penny more per pound the cost to Burger King is $250,000.00 which is something I'm sure you could pass on to your customers. The part that I cannot swallow is that your CEO earns $2.35 - million per year. Come on, how about giving some American families a break?

Thank you for taking your time in reading this letter. I do hope that you will consider what I have written here.

Raye Minor V.P.
MCCM
[email protected]

[Wildcat]

Sic em Raye.

I submitted a response to the article simply stating "Hey Burger King - are you crazy?  I am taking my business elsewhere until you get on board."

[iceman]

Sic em Raye.

I submitted a response to the article simply stating "Hey Burger King - are you crazy?  I am taking my business elsewhere until you get on board."

DITTO!!!!!!!!!!!

[Gizmo]

I'll boycot Burger King.  Unfortunatly for boycot reasons, I don't eat there anyway so they won't notice

[3rensho]

Well it's almost Christmas so I guess Burger King decided to play Grinch.  Hard to believe a company that size is so bloody cheap.