The Latest: Farmworkers announce boycott against Wendy’s

PALM BEACH, Fla. – The Latest on a U.S farmworkers coalition suing the Town of Palm Beach to hold a planned demonstration against Wendy’s (all times local):

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4 p.m.

A U.S. farmworkers coalition has announced it is starting a boycott against the Wendy’s fast-food chain.

The Coalition of Immokalee (ih-MAHK’-ah-lee) Workers said Thursday it hopes the boycott will cause the Ohio-based chain to pay a penny-per-pound fee for its tomatoes to supplement some farmworkers’ wages.

The Florida-based coalition is starting a 10-day series of demonstrations that it hopes will end in Palm Beach, Florida, near where Wendy’s chairman Nelson Peltz owns a home. The coalition is suing the town, saying it has been banned from demonstrating. The town says the demonstration can happen.

Wendy’s has said it requires its suppliers to follow a code of ethics and that it is up to them to pay their employees.

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Noon

A U.S. farmworkers coalition is suing Palm Beach, alleging that the wealthy town’s ordinances effectively bar the group from its constitutional right to hold a protest near the home of a billionaire fast-food executive.

The Coalition of Immokalee (ih-MAHK’-ah-lee) Workers wants a federal judge to allow a demonstration March 12 near the home of Wendy’s Company board chairman Nelson Peltz. At issue is the company’s refusal to pay a penny-per-pound fee for its tomatoes to supplement some farmworkers’ wages.

The coalition says that while Palm Beach’s ordinances expressly permit demonstrations, others that prohibit banners and amplified speech are an effective ban.

Palm Beach officials say they will allow the demonstration if the coalition follows town rules.