Ethel Kennedy led hundreds of farmworkers in a protest near the home of Wendy’s restaurants chairman Nelson Peltz on Saturday in hopes of urging the company to pay more for tomatoes.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has used demonstrations and boycotts to pressure McDonald’s, Burger King, Subway, and Taco Bell into joining its “fair food program,” which pays a penny-per-pound fee for tomatoes to
supplement farmworkers’ wages, The Associated Press reported.
The fair food program would add anywhere from $20 to $150 to the weekly checks of tomato harvesters, who average about $10,000 during the six-month season, the AP said.
Saturday’s protest wrapped up 10 days of demonstrations.
The 87-year-old Kennedy, widow of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, led the two-hour march through
Palm Beach, Florida, the Palm Beach Post reported.
Protesters carried signs and wore “Justice of the workers” T-shirts. The demonstration even included a skit in which a Wendy’s character got married to a character called “Mr. Exploitation,” according to the Post.
The fair food program currently assists workers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Virginia, and New Jersey.
More than 500 people participated in the event, the
Coalition of Immokalee Workers said on its website.
A Wendy’s spokesperson said the company buys tomatoes from a supplier and believes the supplier is
responsible for wages, The Inquisitr reported.
Kennedy, who attended the protest in a wheelchair, didn’t speak at the event or address the media.
The Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization posted about the event on Twitter.
Twitter users shared mixed reactions to the event.
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers also posted a video about the event on YouTube.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.