The essential workers who harvest, pack, and process our food are at heightened risk of exposure to, and death from, Covid-19. More than 87,000 meatpacking workers, food processing workers, and farmworkers have tested positive, and a recent study showed that agricultural workers have suffered the highest Covid-19 death rate of any occupation. This disproportionate vulnerability to Covid-19 must also be understood in the context of well-documented human rights violations in U.S. agriculture, including modern-day slavery and sexual abuse.
The prevalence of human rights abuses in agriculture, and especially the dangers of Covid-19 in food supply chains, presents material legal, business continuity, human capital, reputational, and supply chain risks for companies. Wendy’s supply chain is an apt example, as its beef supply was disrupted due to Covid-19 among its suppliers’ workers. A Cargill plant constituted the largest Covid-19 outbreak linked to a single facility in North America – 1,560 cases – while 12,514 workers at Tyson Foods contracted Covid-19, causing 39 deaths. Both Cargill and Tyson were finalists for Wendy’s “Squarely Sustainable Supplier of the Year” the last time it was awarded (in 2019). Tyson faces a wrongful death lawsuit that alleges Tyson managers bet on how many workers would get infected, and the New York City Retirement Systems called for a securities investigation into whether Tyson misled investors regarding its handling of workplace safety. Although Wendy’s does not disclose its produce suppliers, Covid-19 outbreaks among farmworkers have been legion throughout the country, adding to existing human rights risks industry-wide.
A statement from 335 institutional investors representing $9.5 trillion in assets under management calls on companies to take steps to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19 on all their stakeholders, including suppliers. For fast food retailers like Wendy’s, there is one risk mitigation tool that stands above all others: The Coalition of Immokalee Workers’ (CIW) award-winning Fair Food Program (FFP). The FFP’s worker-driven model of social responsibility is the gold standard for protecting human rights in corporate supply chains, with a track record of addressing and preventing modern slavery, sexual assault and harassment, and other abuses. The FFP is also the only social certification to have mandatory, enforceable protocols to address farmworkers’ Covid-related health and safety concerns – protections that farmworkers depend on.
Yet Wendy’s – unlike its major competitors, including McDonald’s and Burger King—has not joined the FFP.
In solidarity with the CIW, the Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, NY, filed a shareholder proposal that asks Wendy’s to disclose evidence of whether its existing policies effectively protect workers in its food supply chain from human rights violations, including harms from Covid-19 – as well as whether Wendy’s mandates Covid-19 safety protocols for them. The Franciscan Sisters work and pray to bring healing and justice to communities throughout the world, caring deeply about those who are marginalized or living in poverty. The Franciscan Sisters and CIW urge investors to vote yes for resolutions that support the human rights of the vulnerable essential workers in food supply chains.
Sister Gloria Oehl, OSF
Franciscan Sisters of Allegany, NY
Matthew Stark Blumin
General Counsel, The Coalition of Immokalee Workers’