The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), an organization representing farmworkers in South Florida, announced today that it has reached an agreement with Burger King that requires Burger King to pay fair prices for the tomatoes that it uses in its products.

Some highlights of the agreement:

* BK agrees to pay an additional net penny per pound to the Florida farm workers who harvest its tomatoes. To encourage grower participation in this increased wage program, BK will also pay incremental payroll taxes and administrative costs incurred by the growers as a result of their farmworkers' increased wages, or a total of 1.5 cents per pound of tomatoes.

* BK also joins other fast-food industry leaders and the CIW in calling for an industry-wide net penny per pound surcharge to increase wages for Florida tomato harvesters.

* Together, BK and the CIW have also established zero tolerance guidelines for certain unlawful activities that require immediate termination of any grower from the Burger King supply chain. The BK/CIW collaboration additionally provides for farmworker participation in the monitoring of growers' compliance with the company's vendor code of conduct.

The CIW has suggested that following victories over Burger King, Taco Bell, and McDonalds, it will move on to target additional companies.