Farmworkers carry 16-foot-tall puppet through Palm Beach in workers' rights rally

Farmworkers and their allies rallied throughout the Midtown area of Palm Beach on Friday afternoon, the first of three days of a planned Farmworker Freedom Festival.

The event presented by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to highlight the Fair Food Program is taking place at points throughout Palm Beach, including a daylong music and arts event on Saturday at Bradley Park, organizers said.

Past Coverage: Farmworkers bring three-day workers' rights festival to Palm Beach this weekend

On Friday, coalition members and farmworkers carried a 16-foot farmworker puppet named Esperanza through Midtown. As organizers and supporters first gathered at Bradley Park, the mood was jovial, with attendees celebrating changes already made through the program.

• What is the Fair Food Program? The Fair Food Program, founded in 2011, includes restaurants and retailers — such as McDonald's and Whole Foods — that pledge to buy only from suppliers who follow a code of conduct designed to protect workers' rights. The program also includes economic premiums paid by the program's participants, with that money making its way down the supply chain to the workers.

• Why are workers rallying in Palm Beach? Wendy's and Florida-based grocery chain Publix have historically been called out by the annual farmworkers march through Palm Beach, where Wendy's board chair Nelson Peltz has an oceanfront estate.

Lupe Gonzalo, a former farmworker who does community outreach for the Fair Food Program, said the difference in working conditions between program-supported sites and non-supported sites is like night and day.

"Since the Fair Food Program first started being implemented, it has changed the lives of farmworkers, especially since they now have basic human rights," Gonzalo told the Daily News. "For example, now women workers can report abuse without fear of getting fired or reprimanded."

It's not about fighting with organizations but rather working with and inviting them to join the Fair Food Program, Gonzalo said.

"In other farms, they don't give farmworkers water, or shade, or even a quick break during their shift," said former farmworker Leonel Perez, who also does outreach for the Fair Food Program.

From Bradley Park, organizers and supporters moved to Memorial and Fountain Park next to Town Hall on South County Road, where two people participating in the rally played Latin folk music on cuatros, Latin American guitars.

"J-U-S-T-I-C-E is what we want, justice in Immokalee," attendees cheered in a chorus to a protest song from the guitar players.

About 50 people gathered at the small park on South County Road that is known as a hub for prom, Quincenera, engagement and wedding photo shoots.

"Esperanza represents the female farmworker that can now work in the field with dignity and respect," Nely Rodriguez with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers said during a speech delivered near the fountain.

As some with the rally remained in the park, others walked to nearby intersections, including Brazilian Avenue and South County Road, to hand out flyers for Saturday's activities.

From Memorial and Fountain Park, the rally moved to the Midtown Beach access at the east end of Brazilian Avenue. Farmworkers and supporters walked onto the beach carrying their signs and continuing to play music and chant.

While some beachgoers craned their necks to watch the rally, others were unperturbed, continuing their sunbathing.

As attendees chanted, played music, waved signs and danced, some passing drivers honked their horns. Other people walking by danced to the rally's music.

From the beach, the rally moved down Worth Avenue to the courtyard at Worth and Hibiscus avenues. As those participating in the event traveled down the sidewalks of one of the most well-known luxury shopping destinations in the world, people inside shops snapped photos and recorded videos.

In previous years, the rally consisted of a march through Palm Beach that included a stop outside or near Peltz's North County Road mansion. Marchers in previous years have waved anti-Wendy's signs and carried effigies of Peltz and the Wendy's mascot.

This year, signs included a flag that read, "Boycott Wendy's." Other picket signs were shaped like baskets of tomatoes with messages including, "Respect," "Justice" and "Luchando por comida justa" ("fighting for fair food").

"We hope our message reaches Nelson Peltz," Rodriguez said. "This is a celebration, and we are inviting him to be part of it."

• What did Wendy's say? A Wendy's spokesperson said the company does not participate in the Fair Food Program "because we do not purchase field grown tomatoes and there is no nexus between the program and our supply chain. Since 2019, we have sourced our North American tomato supply exclusively from indoor, hydroponic greenhouse farms, while the Fair Food Program predominantly operates in outdoor, conventional tomato growing environments. Wendy’s has an established Supplier Code of Conduct that applies to significant suppliers of The Wendy’s Company and our North America restaurant system, and we also require third-party reviews related to the human rights and labor practices for suppliers of certain hand-harvested, whole, fresh produce."

• What did Publix say? Publix Media Relations Manager Lindsey Willis said, "We value the relationships along the path from 'farm to fork' and realize it takes a lot of people, each providing a great service. Publix remains the focus of a campaign by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) who seek to pressure us to become involved in the employment relationship between Florida farmers who grow tomatoes and the farmworkers they employ to harvest their product. Since first approached by the CIW in 2009, we have consistently viewed this issue as a labor dispute, and our position remains the same today."

While past years' farmworker rights events have caused road closures as marchers walked down Palm Beach streets, demonstrators this year stuck to sidewalks.

Police in an alert to residents on Thursday afternoon cautioned that there could be congestion in these areas:

Saturday: About 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the area of Bradley Park, just east of the Flagler Memorial Bridge.

Sunday: There could be traffic slowdowns from about 8 a.m. to noon around Bradley Park.

While any traffic effects from the event should be minor, drivers should choose alternative routes, police said.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Farmworkers rally on Worth Ave in Palm Beach for workers' rights