By Kevin Lavery, KWMU
St. Louis – As Congress grapples with immigration reform, a group of Latino farm workers demonstrated in St. Louis Tuesday to call for better wages.
The Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee Workers came to St. Louis to march on a local McDonald's franchise.
The group is protesting the corporation's labor practices.
The coalition's Greg Asbed says while their campaign is not directly linked with immigration reform - both issues are about basic human rights.
"The right to a decent wage, the right to overtime pay when you work 60 hours a week, which farm workers do not have today," Asbed said. "The right to organize, which workers do not have; the right to freedom of association. So that's the foundation of this fight."
The coalition is pressuring McDonald's to pay a penny more for every pound of tomatoes its members pick.
McDonald's officials could not be reached for comment.