Protesters boycott Gainesville Wendy’s

An employee at the Wendy’s on Archer Road called police after protesters entered the restaurant in an attempt to deliver a letter.

About 15 people stood outside of the restaurant Wednesday afternoon in protest of Wendy’s refusal to sign onto the Fair Food Program, which works to create partnerships between farmers, farm workers and retail food companies to ensure rights are protected.

The protest was organized by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, an activist group for farm workers that visited the Reitz Union Wendy’s earlier Wednesday.

“We’ve marched, protested, called, sent letters and Wendy’s has continued to refuse to listen to farm workers within its food chain,” Silvia Perez, a 41-year-old farm worker and member of the coalition, said in Spanish through a translator.

The protesters held tomato-shaped signs reading “Justice” and “Respecto” and chanted as they handed out fliers to people who pulled over to talk to them.

When protesters entered the restaurant to drop off a letter to management, one employee demanded they leave while another employee called police. They filtered out and continued to protest from the sidewalk.

Employees at the fast-food chain declined to comment. Wendy’s suppliers meet all local, state and federal laws, but the coalition also wants Wendy’s to pay an additional fee to the tomato harvesters, Heidi Schauer, a Wendy’s spokeswoman, wrote in an email.

“These individuals are not Wendy’s employees, and we have not thought it appropriate to pay another company’s workers,” she said.