About 80 Kansas University students marched from the Kansas Union to Burger King, 1301 W. 23rd St., protesting what they called the burger chain’s exploitation of farm laborers in Immokalee, Fla.

The group, representing Lawrence Fair Food, the city’s branch of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, included students, residents of Oklahoma and Wichita, and at least one man who is a farm laborer in Florida. State Sen. Marci Francisco, D-Lawrence, joined the protesters, who paraded a fanged effigy of the Burger King mascot, the King, outside the restaurant.

Sally Sanko, a KU sophomore from Great Bend, said the protesters were urging Burger King to provide better working conditions for laborers, as well as a pay increase of one cent per pound of tomatoes.

“There are a lot of farm workers in Kansas. I think it has a lot to do with Immokalee,” she said. She said because Burger King’s marketing targets young people, “for us to stand up and support the farm workers says a lot to Burger King.”

Gerardo Reyes, 30, an Immokalee laborer, joined the marchers. He said the wages workers receive – which range from 40 cents to 45 cents per 32 pounds of picked tomatoes – have remained unchanged since 1978. He complained about the lack of benefits, working under threats of violence, and six documented cases of slavery as examples of worker exploitation. Authorities in southwest Florida arrested a woman in January for profiting off the work of unpaid laborers.

“There is simply a profound lack of respect for workers in agriculture,” Reyes said, through a translator.

Chris Morain, a manager at Burger King, had no comment.

Burger King representatives did not respond to several phone messages and e-mail requests for comment.

Francisco, a member of the Senate agriculture committee, joined the protest after being invited by the group to participate last week.

“We want to have food that makes us healthy and food that helps the community stay healthy,” she said. “I want to make sure that everybody (who is) eating a burger has fresh lettuce and a fresh tomato slice as part of that burger, and we also want to make sure that those people who have picked the lettuce and picked that tomato for us can also feed their families well.”