Special | 10/13/08

Media Credit: Cara Flynn Right, senior Greg Mazur hands out literature on Saturday, Oct. 11 outside of Subway on York Road. [Click to enlarge]

While Subway franchises offer the $5-foot-long to their hungry customers, Towson students are asking for a mere penny for overworked and underpaid farm workers.

On Saturday, a handful of Towson students and off-campus activists stood on the corner of Chesapeake and York roads outside of Subway, handing out reading materials to passers by.

The hope for the day, protesters said, was to get signatures on post cards to be sent to Subway's Independent Purchasing Cooperative in protest of the low wages they pay farm workers in Immokalee, Fla.

Towson senior Greg Mazur traveled to Florida with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to see firsthand the hardships the workers face and for information on past protesting campaigns.

"Being from Howard County, which is a place of extreme privilege, and going to Immokalee, it's a complete 180 [degree turn]," Mazur said. "It's such a powerful thing to see the economic devastation that can happen in our country. But also, it's empowering to see what these workers have done, coming together to fight for these fair wages."

Subway management was receptive to CIW's cause by signing a post card. The franchise owner was not present Saturday for comment.

According to literature Mazur handed out last Saturday, Subway franchises employ Florida tomato pickers who face, "sub-poverty wages, denial of fundamental labor rights and modern day slavery.

"We're here because we want to stand in solidarity with other activists around the country," Mazur said.

"There have been seven cases of actual enslavement in Immokalee… They're pressuring for [Subway] to have a sit down."

In the past, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut have reached successful negotiations with CIW, granting a penny raise to the workers. Mazur pointed out the irony that Immokalee is located near Naples, Fla., one of the wealthiest areas in the country.

"I do believe in the cause. Everyone should get a fair wage. People shouldn't be working such extenuating tiring hours for such a small wage. They deserve more than that," Alex Dejong, a sophomore history major, said.

People's reception was mixed according to Dejong, who commentated that while some people passed by without regard, others showed interest. "There have been some people that actually do care and have been taking very good response to these, signing the leaflets," he said.

"Hopefully it'll make a difference and then people will be living better."

Mazur is involved in several activist organizations including the Progressive Democrats of Towson, Student Collective for Animal Rights and off-campus groups like UNITE HERE. For more information or to contribute to the CIW's cause, students can visit www.ciw-online.org.

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools