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Taco Bell boycott ends in major |
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In a major victory for Florida farm workers and social activists, fast-food industry giant Taco Bell has agreed to support a wage increase and improved working conditions for farm workers in the Florida tomato industry. The agreement ended a four-year-long boycott organized by the Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee Workers in its campaign to promote the rights of workers in the state's tomato fields. "This is an important victory for farm workers, one that establishes a new standard of social responsibility for the fast-food industry and makes an immediate material change in the lives of workers," said Lucas Benitez, a leader of the Immokalee coalition. The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee is among several nongovernmental organizations that supported the Immokalee workers' struggles to earn more than poverty-level wages. UUSC endorsed the boycott and urged activists to take part in letter writing campaigns to Taco Bell executives. We also supported demonstrations in support of the farm workers outside of Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine, Calif., and urged activists to participate in demonstrations at local Taco Bell restaurants. "We recognize that Florida tomato workers do not enjoy the same rights and conditions as employees in other industries, and there is a need for reform," said Emil Brolick, Taco Bell president. "We have indicated that any solution must be industry-wide, as our company simply does not have the clout alone to solve the issues raised by the CIW, but we are willing to play a leadership role within our industry to be part of the solution." As part of the settlement, Taco Bell said it will fund a penny-per-pound "pass-through" with its suppliers of Florida tomatoes. The company said it will deal only with suppliers who agree to pass the surcharge along to the farm workers. "With this agreement, we will be the first in our industry to directly help improve farmworkers' wages," said Mr. Brolick. "We hope others in the restaurant industry and supermarket retail trade will follow our leadership." The Immokalee coalition is now asking activists to contact other fast-food giants, including McDonald's Burger King and Subway, to urge them to follow Taco Bell's lead in taking action to improve the living and working conditions of farm workers around the country. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers was organized in the mid 1990s to help increase the pay of farm workers who the coalition said earn as about 40 cents for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes. The coalition also has helped expose and bring to trial slavery cases in which labor contractors were charged with beating and illegally detaining workers against their will. UUSC has conducted workcamps in migrant farm worker communities for five years, including most recently in North Carolina in 2002 and 2003. In conjunction with these workcamps, volunteers were trained in advocacy techniques and encouraged to support the Immokalee workers in their battle against Taco Bell. For more information on UUSC's support of the farm workers and the Taco Bell boycott, click here.
by Dick Campbell/UUSC |
