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villages/hispanic/ AP Headlines Update Page
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Stats on Hispanic population per US state |
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Does Latino population growth equal influence? |
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Campaign to award Medal of
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Cuban father pays price for custody of
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Farm worker advocates to
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 Hispanic
American Village News
By The Associated Press
Stats on Hispanic population per US state
By The Associated Press
May 01 08:08
Number of Hispanics in each state as
of July 1, 2000 and July 1, 2007, and the percentage change:
State 2007 2000
Change
Ala. 124,741 76,505
63.0
Alaska 39,985 26,058
53.4
Ariz. 1,878,097 1,313,139
43.0
Ark. 150,270 87,676
71.4
Calif. 13,220,891 11,059,683
19.5
Colo. 965,885 745,611
29.5
Conn. 403,375 323,318
24.8
Del. 56,152 37,706
48.9
D.C. 49,016 45,263
8.3
Fla. 3,755,560 2,715,185
38.3
Ga. 740,843 440,991
68.0
Hawaii 105,172 87,879
19.7
Idaho 147,426 102,901
43.3
Ill. 1,919,690 1,543,892
24.3
Ind. 315,089 216,736
45.4
Iowa 119,734 83,243
43.8
Kan. 244,306 190,033
28.6
Ky. 94,626 60,535
56.3
La. 136,562 108,630
25.7
Maine 15,656 9,480
65.1
Md. 356,227 230,235
54.7
Mass. 527,859 432,943
21.9
Mich. 402,797 326,955
23.2
Minn. 205,896 145,000
42.0
Miss. 60,168 39,945
50.6
Mo. 178,421 119,803
48.9
Mont. 26,725 18,241
46.5
Neb. 133,832 95,279
40.5
Nev. 644,484 400,525
60.9
N.H. 32,927 20,807
58.2
N.J. 1,382,031 1,127,633
22.6
N.M. 874,688 769,758
13.6
N.Y. 3,162,382 2,889,915
9.4
N.C. 638,444 383,359
66.5
N.D. 12,002 7,856
52.8
Ohio 283,755 219,073
29.5
Okla. 261,635 180,810
44.7
Ore. 396,140 278,091
42.4
Pa. 556,132 397,257
40.0
R.I. 118,960 91,755
29.6
S.C. 168,920 96,059
75.9
S.D. 18,477 11,009
67.8
Tenn. 215,439 125,147
72.1
Texas 8,600,399 6,738,860
27.6
Utah 306,514 204,190
50.1
Vt. 8,170 5,565
46.8
Va. 508,217 333,277
52.5
Wash. 610,005 445,963
36.8
W.Va. 19,350 12,425
55.7
Wis. 271,830 194,847
39.5
Wyo. 38,409 31,939
20.3
Nation 45,504,311 35,648,985
27.6
Source: Census Bureau
Does Latino population growth equal influence?
By SUZANNE GAMBOA
Associated Press Writer
May 01 08:07
WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of
Hispanics in the United States rose by 1.4 million over a year's time to
45.5 million as of last July, with the most rapid increases in the
South.
The continuing growth could increase
their influence, and this election year has focused more attention on
how much the Hispanic population is increasing.
Nine of the top 10 states with the
highest growth rates in their populations were in the South, according
to new census data released Thursday.
South Carolina topped the list with
an 8.7 percent increase, gaining 13,569 Hispanics, according to an
analysis of the Census data by William Frey, a demographer at the
Brookings Institution. The state's total Hispanic population was 168,920
last July 1, a 76 percent increase from July 2000.
Other Southern states that saw
increases are Tennessee, with 8.1 percent growth; North Carolina, 7.8
percent; Georgia, 7.1 percent; Alabama, Mississippi and Kentucky, 7
percent; Arkansas, 6.8; Louisiana, 6.5 percent. Florida had a 3.6
percent gain, which ranked 37th among states.
Utah ranked eighth with a 6.9 percent
growth rate.
For the second consecutive year,
Texas accounted for more of the gains in the numbers of Hispanics than
California. Texas' share was about 21.2 percent of the additional
Hispanics in 2007, while California's share was 18.5., according to
Frey's analysis. But California still leads in total number of Hispanics
with 13.2 million, compared to Texas' 8.6 million.
With those increases boosting
Hispanics to 15.1 percent of the U.S. population, voting booths are
being watched closely this year for Hispanic turnout.
Some Hispanic advocacy groups predict
about 10 million Hispanics will show up at the polls, motivated by the
usual concerns about the economy, health care and the war and an added
catalyst of dismay over attitudes from anti-immigration movements.
"We obviously know that Latino
population growth is not perfectly mirrored in the Latino voting
population,'' said Clarissa Martinez, National Council of La Raza
director of immigration and national campaigns.
Hispanics are a significant part of
the electorate in the battleground states of Nevada, New Mexico, Florida
and Colorado, she said. "Look at the primary turnout, Latinos are
demonstrating they are engaged in numbers we haven't seen before.''
In California's March Democratic
primary, Hispanics accounted for 31 percent of the vote, up from 16
percent in 2004, according to exit polls. In Texas, their share of the
Democratic primary vote rose from 24 percent to 32 percent.
But in some states, the change is
smaller. In Ohio, their turnout was up to 4 percent in the Democratic
primary, compared with 3 percent in 2004.
Along with low turnout at elections,
Hispanics are underrepresented among those elected.
There were 5,129 Hispanic elected
officials in local, state and federal office as January 2007, about 1
percent of all office holders, said William Ramos, Washington director
of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials.
There were 5,132 in January 2006.
Expectations are that growth of the
Hispanic population in the Southeastern U.S. will help raise those
numbers, Ramos said.
Larry Gonzalez, a lobbyist with the
Raben Group, says he experiences the growing influence of the increasing
Hispanic population when prospective clients come to his lobbying firm
looking for ways to reach the community.
"It's clear to us there's a whole
economic impact from the growth of the Latino community, said Gonzalez,
who formed the Hispanic Lobbying Association. "That's what we see on the
lobbying end, when people come to us and say, 'Help us engage the
(Hispanic) community.'''
Gonzalez said the latest numbers
should underscore the need for policymakers and politicians to pay
attention to the Hispanic population.
"It bears repeating, the future of
Americans is going to depend on the future of the success of Latinos,''
he said.
Congress gave that population's
growth a limited nod Tuesday night when it passed legislation to create
a commission to study whether to add a museum in the Smithsonian
Institution system dedicated to the contributions of U.S. Hispanics.
Money still must be provided for the commission.
On the Net: U.S. Census Bureau:
http://www.census.gov
Campaign to award Medal of Honor to dead WW II
marine
By ADRIAN SAINZ
Associated Press Writer
Apr 30 19:14
MIAMI (AP) - Armed and alone, U.S.
Marine Guy Gabaldon roamed Saipan's caves and pillboxes, using his
Japanese language skills to convince enemy soldiers and civilians to
surrender during the hellish World War II island battle in the summer of
1944.
Warning the Japanese they would die
if they stayed in the caves, Gabaldon told them Marines were not
torturers as they had heard, but instead would feed them and give them
medical care. Many agreed, and Gabaldon, 18, led them back to U.S.
lines.
By the time the battle ended, the
5-foot, 3-inch tall Gabaldon had lured more than 1,000 Japanese out of
the steamy caves. He was praised as being both brave and compassionate,
and he received a Silver Star -- later upgraded to a Navy Cross. His
actions were recounted in a 1957 episode of "This is Your Life'' and a
1960 feature film called "Hell to Eternity.''
Now, more than 60 years after Saipan
and almost two years after his death, a campaign has been launched to
persuade U.S. officials to give Gabaldon the Medal of Honor, the
nation's highest military award. The new documentary "East L.A. Marine''
is part of that effort, and a Web site urges supporters to sign a
pro-medal petition. The film asks whether Gabaldon's Hispanic heritage
has prevented him from receiving the medal; others have blamed his tough
and outspoken nature.
Meanwhile, critics question whether
Gabaldon deserves the medal, saying his story does not measure up to
other feats of gallantry and sacrifice on Saipan.
"It's a much bigger issue than any of
us realize,'' said Steve Rubin, who directed the documentary, which will
be available May 6 on getguythemedal.com for $19.95. "Guy is a symbol
not only of a hero in war, but a man who treated people humanely. He
killed people, sure, but having grown up essentially as a Japanese, he
treated them as human beings.''
Guy Louis Gabaldon grew up in the
Boyle Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles, his father a machinist whose
relatives were Spanish conquistadors. One of five children, Gabaldon
became close with a Japanese-American family at age 11 and made friends
with Japanese boys.
In his diverse neighborhood, Gabaldon
earned a reputation for fearlessness, jumping out of second-story
windows and hopping freight trains.
"He was a real ornery little guy,''
friend Manuel Paulin says in the documentary. "He was always picking a
fight with somebody.''
Gabaldon learned the
Japanese-American vernacular and absorbed the culture by delivering
Japanese newspapers and picking crops with other Japanese-Americans.
When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on
Dec. 7, 1941, the U.S. went to war, and more than 100,000 people of
Japanese heritage, including many of Gabaldon's friends, were sent to
internment camps.
"He got very upset when the
government put the Japanese in concentration camps,'' said his second
wife, Ohana Gabaldon, who lives in Old Town in central Florida.
Gabaldon was accepted into the
Marines in 1943 as a scout observer and, with knowledge of Japanese, an
interpreter. Gabaldon hit the shores of Saipan in the Northern Mariana
Islands on June 15, 1944.
Saipan and neighboring Tinian were
part of the American island-hopping campaign to oust the Japanese from
Pacific islands. Tinian later became the launching point for the B-29
bombers that dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The battle was notoriously bloody,
with bodies strewn throughout the small island, infesting it with flies
hovering over rotting corpses. Combat was often in close quarters in
cane fields, jungles and caves, and more than 3,200 Americans and 23,800
Japanese were killed, according to a 1994 Marine Corps pamphlet,
"Breaching the Marianas: The Battle for Saipan.''
Civilians, some prisoners of Japanese
soldiers, hid to avoid capture by the Americans. Fearing torture and
murder, Japanese civilians blew themselves up with grenades or jumped
off Saipan's cliffs to avoid capture.
Gabaldon did his share of killing.
One day, he ventured behind enemy lines on his own and brought back a
gaggle of Japanese prisoners. Gabaldon was scolded by his commanding
officer, Col. John Schwabe, but went out by himself again and returned
with more Japanese.
Satisfied that Gabaldon knew what he
was doing, Schwabe let him continue his one-man mission.
"He would go up to the mouth of that
cave and jabber, jabber, jabber, and pretty soon somebody would dribble
out,'' Schwabe said in the documentary.
On Saipan, the U.S. military's
civilian captives included women and children. They were hungry and
sick, suffering from afflictions ranging from shell shock to leprosy,
according to the Marine pamphlet.
By the battle's end, Gabaldon had
rounded up 1,000 to 1,500 Japanese --including a purported 800 in one
day.
"Working alone in front of the lines,
he contributed materially to the success of the campaign and, through
his efforts, a definite humane treatment of civilian prisoners was
insured,'' says a Marine Corps document detailing Gabaldon's credentials
for a Silver Star.
In the documentary, Gabaldon
discussed his motivation.
"Being raised in the barrio, every
day is a fight,'' Gabaldon said. "You're fighting to survive in the
barrio and I think that might have had something to do with my
personality, my makeup. I knew I was doing something that had never been
done in World War II.''
Gabaldon was later wounded and
evacuated to an Army field hospital in January 1945, according to the
document provided by the Marine Corps History Division.
Schwabe, in a May 1960 letter, said
there was confusion after Saipan over who was responsible for
recommending Gabaldon for the Medal of Honor. Gabaldon did receive a
Silver Star and a Purple Heart, records show.
After the war, Gabaldon's story was
lost amid all the military milestones that followed. Gabaldon returned
to the United States, and later lived in Saipan and Mexico before
settling in Florida.
In June 1957, Gabaldon was featured
on the TV show "This is Your Life'' hosted by Ralph Edwards. Two
Japanese friends also appeared.
In 1960, "Hell to Eternity'' was
released, starring Jeffrey Hunter, a 6-foot tall, handsome actor. Hunter
looked nothing like the short, unremarkable-looking Gabaldon, and
clearly was not Hispanic.
"When there was a movie made about
his life, and that part of him is completely obliterated ... people who
are familiar with this issue are really appalled by that,'' said Maggie
Rivas-Rodriguez, a University of Texas journalism professor who
interviewed Gabaldon and hundreds of other men and women of the World
War II generation. "His ethnicity was really who he was.''
The film started an effort to get
Gabaldon the Medal of Honor. Schwabe officially recommended him for the
medal in his May 1960 letter. On Dec. 20, 1960, the Department of
Defense said it upgraded Gabaldon's Silver Star to a Navy Cross: A news
release said the upgrade came "after Gabaldon's records were revised at
his request.''
But the Medal of Honor never reached
Gabaldon, despite occasional efforts by Hispanic groups and even
politicians who pushed for the award.
Gabaldon, who retired to Florida
after running a variety of businesses, suffered a stroke in the late
1990s, his wife said. He never really mellowed or abandoned his love for
fishing and other adventures, including flying planes, she said.
Gabaldon died in September 2006 at age 80.
Gabaldon's wife said he talked about
racism he experienced as a serviceman. But, as a man of contradictions
who could kill Japanese in Saipan at one moment and rescue them the
next, he never lost his love for the Marine Corps: "He was a Marine
first, and then Guy,'' she said.
However, he was hurt that he never
learned why he had not gotten the Medal of Honor, leading him and others
to wonder whether his being Hispanic had anything to do with it, his
wife said.
"He just wanted an explanation why,''
Ohana Gabaldon said. "Nobody came up with the truth, you know. I guess
what Guy wanted to hear from the Marine Corps is that `We goofed.' He
told me he wasn't going to see the Medal of Honor in his lifetime.''
The documentary takes on the question
of why Gabaldon was not given the Medal of Honor, comparing his exploits
to those who did, like World War II's Audie Murphy.
In the film, narrator Freddie Prinze
Jr. asks: "What caused this inequity? Was it because Guy Gabaldon was of
Hispanic heritage? Was it because he had a big mouth and wasn't afraid
to say what he felt?''
Gabaldon is discussed in a book by
University of the South professor Harold J. Goldberg titled "D-Day in
the Pacific: The Battle of Saipan.'' The book says some Marines
estimated that Gabaldon captured only about half of the number he
claimed.
The book quotes Marine Sgt. David
Dowdakin, who served with I Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines.
"Dowdakin admitted that Gabaldon had
his defenders, but he added that `the rest of us think he is an
importuning glory seeker who is playing the race card. But, then, the
two traits often go together: bravery and glory seeking.'''
Goldberg, who interviewed other
former Marines for his book, said Gabaldon was a brave and tough Marine.
But he said there would be upset Marine veterans if Gabaldon was to get
the medal because there are others who are as deserving.
"This constant sort of glory-seeking
really grates on a lot of other Marines who just feel he was trying to
separate himself out from what every other Marine did,'' Goldberg said
in a telephone interview.
Capt. Amy Malugani, a Marines
spokeswoman, said the Marines are precluded from discussing any
individual.
"In view of the additional
sensitivity regarding the Medal of Honor cases, exceptional care shall
be exercised to avoid disclosure of any information, including but not
limited to, the fact that an individual has been recommended for the
award,'' she wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
But Malugani also said the Secretary
of the Navy is conducting a mandatory review of the service records of
each Jewish and Hispanic-American veteran who won the Navy Cross for
actions during World War II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, and Operation
Desert Storm, to determine if any should be awarded the Medal of Honor.
Gabaldon's widow notes that politics
could be involved in the decision as Hispanics flex their political
clout. On the other side of the argument, Goldberg says the medal should
not be used as a "political football.''
"We're becoming not so much a
minority anymore,'' said Ohana Gabaldon, who is of Japanese and Mexican
descent. "Maybe this is the time that the Latino vote counts, what
Washington cares about so much.
"They can take the opportunity to
right a wrong and be aware of what Latinos have done for this country.''
Cuban father pays price for custody of daughter
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
AP Hispanic Affairs Writer
Apr 29 13:33
MIAMI (AP) - The 5-year-old with
hazel eyes and a bouncy ponytail swung across the monkey bars as her
Cuban father Rafael Izquierdo proudly watched nearby, ready to catch
her.
"Look at me go Papi!'' she squealed,
just before she dropped into his waiting arms.
In the six months since Izquierdo
regained custody of his young daughter after a high-profile court case,
the two have developed a deep bond. It is one they never shared when the
girl lived in Cuba with her mother, let alone after she first came to
the U.S. and sparked an intense, international custody battle.
Yet in reclaiming one child,
Izquierdo has found himself separated from nearly everything and
everyone else he loves. He lives alone with her in the U.S., jobless --
a pariah to many Cuban-Americans who cannot fathom why he would want to
return with the girl to the poverty-seeped, communist island their own
families fled.
Last month, Izquierdo's pregnant wife
Yanara Alvarez and their 7-year-old daughter Rachel returned to Cuba so
Alvarez could take advantage of the country's free medical care during
their son's birth. Mother and daughter have yet to receive permission
from U.S. immigration authorities to return to Miami, Izquierdo's
attorney said.
Meanwhile, Izquierdo has received no
guarantee that if he leaves for a weekend to visit them, he can return.
"I'm sad that I'm not there with
them. What does a father want more than to be with his family and
receive his son?'' Izquierdo told The Associated Press. The AP has
agreed not to use the girl's name.
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration
Services spokeswoman Ana Santiago declined to comment on the case.
"Privacy consideration preclude us
from confirming or denying if a person has filed an application with
USCIS as well as commenting on a person's immigration status,'' she said
in a statement.
Some days it is difficult for
Izquierdo, a pig and potato farmer, to understand how he got to this
place.
"In my village, I was never in the
paper. People knew me, but I wasn't famous,'' he said.
It is a complicated story, one that
has drawn comparisons to the 2000 fight over Elian Gonzalez. During a
separation from Alvarez, Izquierdo had a brief affair and his lover got
pregnant. After their daughter's birth, the woman took the girl to the
U.S. with Izquierdo's permission. He stayed in Cuba with his wife.
But the woman was deeply troubled and
soon lost custody of her daughter, who ended up with wealthy
Cuban-American foster parents. They doted on her and wanted to keep her.
The state government backed them -- Govs. Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist
were regularly updated. Its attorneys argued, among other things, that
Izquierdo was unfit.
To complicate matters, the foster
parents adopted the girl's older brother by a different father. If she
went back to Cuba with Izquierdo, the siblings might be separated for
years because of travel restrictions imposed by both governments.
Eventually, Izquierdo cut a deal. He got custody of his daughter, but he
can't take her out of the U.S. until May 2010, and her former foster
parents get her for two weekends a month.
"With all those psychologists, and
therapists, it was confusing. She was suffering. In the long run, they
were going to damage her. I had to dance to their dance,'' Izquierdo
said of the agreement.
On a recent afternoon, Izquierdo's
daughter boasted about his fishing prowess, and they argued over who
would tell the story of his latest catch.
His daughter now calls Alvarez "Mami,''
and becoming "Mr. Mami'' was no easy task for Izquierdo, especially
after months of scrutiny from psychologists and lawyers over everything
from breakfast choices to bath time.
"She asks so many questions. She is
so smart. Sometime she astounds me,'' Izquierdo said.
In recent months, he's learned to do
ponytails and that Hannah Montana is cool, but his landlady said the
girl recently asked her if she was going to be her new mom.
Izquierdo says it was his older
daughter Rachel who most helped the girl adjust to her new life with his
family. And in a conversation, her name surfaces constantly.
"Papi, remember how Rachel taught me
to dance?'' the girl asked at the playground, adding wistfully, "If
Rachel were here, she would show me. I would be able to get all the way
across the monkey bars by myself.''
During the weekends his daughter goes
to her former foster parents Joe and Maria Cubas, he passes time with a
few friends and watches a lot of TV. He has gained a slick Miami style
and a small paunch.
Joe Cubas, a former agent for major
league baseball players, said the transitions are hard on the girl.
"When we have her, and we have to
return her, it's devastating. She does everything she can, cries and
kicks and pleads not to be returned,'' he said. "It's heartbreaking
because there's nothing we can do.''
Cubas said he is concerned that the
girl's therapy recently ended, given the separation from her stepmother
and sister and the continued the transition between the two families.
Izquierdo said he believes in therapy, but he never trusted his
daughter's therapist, who testified against him in the custody case.
He ended those sessions but has kept
in touch with another therapist in the case and acknowledged his
daughter is often sad when she returns from the Cubases.
"It goes away after a while, but it
is hard,'' he said.
Izquierdo has yet to find work. After
so much separation, he said he wants to find something that would allow
him to be home with his daughter after school. Yet the economy is tough,
he lacks a car and some potential employers and friends have told him
they're afraid to help because they fear a backlash from the community.
At the local coffee shop, people still stop and stare.
The Cuban government hasn't provided
financial support, he said, but since his public benefits ran out, a few
people in the community have stepped up.
"I hate Fidel Castro,'' was the first
thing his landlady Raiza Aguilar said when asked about Izquierdo. "But
Rafael is not a bad person....the first year in the U.S. is very
difficult, especially with his wife and his daughter over there.''
Yet even Aguilar questioned why he
still wants to go home.
"I'm a farmer. I lived close to the
earth,'' Izquierdo explained. "The experience here, it didn't allow me
to feel very positive.''
Farm worker advocates to petition Burger King
By LAURA WIDES-MUNOZ
AP Hispanic Affairs Writer
Apr 28 18:43
MIAMI (AP) - Farm worker advocates
sought to present more than 80,000 signatures to Burger King officials
Monday urging the fast-food giant to join McDonald's Corp. and Taco Bell
to help boost the wages of Florida tomato pickers and improve working
conditions in the fields.
The presentation of the petitions,
collected from all 50 states and 43 countries, came the same day that a
newspaper reported a top Burger King official used his young daughter's
e-mail address to spread misinformation about the farmworker group.
"We want Burger King to come to the
discussion table and enter into an agreement with the coalition,'' said
Gerardo Reyes, a farmworker and member of the group, the Coalition of
Immokalee Workers. "We are making the same demands we have made of the
rest of the fast-food industry.''
Reyes said the petitions were a
precursor to a boycott. The coalition waged a successful boycott against
Taco Bell owner Yum Brands several years ago.
Officials for Burger King did not
receive the petitions, which were left outside its Miami headquarters.
The company said the comments attributed to the official do not reflect
its official policy.
"We have a robust vendor code of
conduct which mandates zero tolerance for worker exploitation and abuse,
and we are open to any responsible suggestions for improvement,''
spokeswoman Denise Wilson said in a statement.
"If their position is different, then
they should clear it up immediately, not with words but with concrete
actions,'' Reyes told a crowd of nearly 200 workers and supporters
outside the Burger King headquarters.
During a Senate hearing on the issue
earlier this month, lawmakers called for an investigation into Florida
tomato picker conditions.
Both McDonald's and Yum Brands have
agreed to a deal with the coalition in which the companies pay growers a
penny more per pound for the tomatoes they buy. The growers pass on the
money to their workers. The deal also calls on the companies to work
with the coalition to establish a code of conduct for their suppliers.
But since last fall the deal has
existed on paper only after the industry group representing Florida
tomato growers refused to allow its members to participate. The growers
maintain workers are treated well in Florida and earn wages that can
average $12.50 an hour.
Burger King has echoed these
statements and refused to sign a deal with the coalition, citing an
array of concerns -- including how the extra money would be distributed.
At one point, Burger King Vice President Stephen Grover told reporters
he was concerned the coalition was pocketing the extra money. After
several independent groups that verified the agreements dismissed the
allegations, Burger King officials stopped repeating them.
But the allegations were repeated on
blog posts, according to a story published Monday in The News-Press in
Fort Myers. The paper traced those posts to the online user name of
Grover's daughter. The girl, who is in middle school, later confirmed to
the paper her father had used her online screen name.
In a post still available Monday on
YouTube, an individual with the girl's screen name wrote: "The CIW is an
attack organization lining the leaders pockets by attacking restaurant
companies. They make up issues and collect money from dupes that believe
their story....''
Messages left for Grover at work and
at home by The Associated Press on Monday were not immediately returned.
His wife, Susan Grover, confirmed the
screen name was their daughter's but said she didn't know if her husband
had used it. She accused the News-Press reporter of not identifying
herself as a journalist to their daughter.
Reporter Amy Bennett Williams said
she did identify herself and told the girl she was taking notes. She
also said she left all of her contact information, which the girl's
mother later used to call and complain.
Burger King spokeswoman Wilson said
the company welcomed a congressional investigation into farm labor
conditions and wages.
"Comments attributed to Steve Grover
do not reflect Burger King's desire to find a way to assure decent wages
and modern working conditions for the tomato harvesters in Immokalee,''
she said.
In recent months Burger King has
publicly urged the coalition to provide them with a copy of the
agreements it signed with Yum Brands and McDonald's, saying it wants to
review them before deciding how to proceed.
The coalition has said the only
information they have not already made public are details related to the
companies' individual purchasing patterns, which they say the companies
have asked them not to share. Both the coalition and Yum Brands have
offered to outline the structure of the agreements more generally.
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