wfn.org | NCC Takes Up Florida Farm Workers Concerns

["Nat'l Council of Churches" <nccc_usa@ncccusa.org>]

National Council of Churches
NCC Media Contact: 212-870-2227
March 7, 2003 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

By Sarah Vilankulu, NCC

At Lent, National Council of Churches Takes Up Concerns of Florida Farm
Workers;
Religious Leaders Pledge Persuades Workers to End Hunger Strike at Taco
Bell Headquarters

March 7, 2003, NEW YORK CITY -- As the Christian season of Lenten prayer and
fasting begins, the National Council of Churches (NCC) is requesting special
prayers for farm workers who have been made poor and vulnerable by
fast-food and agricultural industries.

The Council further asks churches everywhere to study farm worker issues,
especially by focusing on the current struggle for just wages and working
conditions of Florida farm workers who pick tomatoes that go into Taco Bell
products.

The Lenten call grew out of the Councils support for some 50 Florida farm
workers and scores of their supporters who conducted a hunger strike Feb.
24 - March 5 outside Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine, Calif. The workers
aim was to pressure the company to enter into negotiations with them and
with the Florida growers who supply Taco Bell with tomatoes.

The farm workers belong to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in
southwest Florida, which two years ago mounted a nationwide boycott of Taco
Bell restaurants and products. The 50 workers traveled three days by bus to
Irvine, where they fasted outdoors, often in inclement weather. In the
second week of the fast, conditions had clearly taken a great toll on
participants.

In response to pleas from religious leaders worried about the fasters
health, the workers ended their fast in its tenth day at a 10:00 a.m. Ash
Wednesday service at the hunger strike site. As a part of the service, the
workers broke bread with religious leaders.

The previous day, top officials of the National Council of Churches wrote to
the workers, alarmed that one had already been hospitalized and others were
on the brink of collapse. With appreciation for your sacrifice, we now
request that you allow the church to take on your concerns in our Lenten
journey, the Councils letter said. We ask you to break your fast, even as
we begin ours.

Signing the letter were Elenie Huszagh, Esq., NCC President; Christian
Methodist Episcopal Bishop Thomas Hoyt, NCC President Elect; and Dr. Bob
Edgar, NCC General Secretary.

The workers received similar letters from the national headquarters of the
Presbyterian Church (USA), the United Church of Christ, and the National
Farm Ministry, and from Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop of
Los Angeles.

Excerpts from the letters were read at the Ash Wednesday service with the
workers. During the service, a delegation of six religious leaders carried
the letters to Taco Bell headquarters. The delegation included the Rev.
Noelle Damico of the Presbyterian Church (USA), who also served as the NCCs
designated representative at the fast.

Accompanying the group were the nurse who had attended the fasters all week
and who carried a letter citing medical and humanitarian concerns related to
the fast, two children from Irvine with construction paper drawings urging
Mr. Brolick to speak with workers, and two farm workers who brought
thousands of postcards from Immokalee farm workers.

Finding the glass doors at Taco Bell headquarters locked, the Rev. Damico
knocked and asked security guards if the delegation could personally present
the letters to Mr. Brolick. The security guards denied that request and also
refused permission for the delegation to enter the building in order to
leave the letters in the lobby of Taco Bell offices.

The Rev. Damico then got on her knees and asked if the leaders could slide
their letters under the door. Given an OK by the guards, the religious
leaders knelt one by one, slipping their letters under the door as they
announced the names of the senders. In turn, the children slid their
pictures through. Finally, the workers fed as many cards as they could under
the door, leaving a large box of post cards at the entranceway.

The group prayed, returned to the fast site, and, along with the rest of the
congregation, received the Imposition of Ashes, and prayed for
reconciliation and justice.  Following the service the congregation moved to
a nearby Catholic center for a joyous meal of bean soup, fruit and
tortillas.

Both the Presbyterian Church (USA) and the United Church of Christ, which
already have endorsed the Taco Bell boycott, are members of the National
Council of Churches. As such they have been instrumental in bringing the
issue before the NCCs 36 Protestant and Orthodox member denominations and
communions, to which some 50 million Christians belong.

On February 25, the Councils Executive Board, meeting in New York City,
adopted a resolution expressing solidarity with the CIW fasters and calling
on Taco Bell to enter into serious dialogue with the CIW.

Dr. Edgar designated the Rev. Damico to deliver a copy of the resolution to
Mr. Emil Brolick, president of Taco Bell, at his office in Irvine. The Rev.
Damico attempted to do so but was rebuffed by Taco Bell, which cited
security concerns and Mr. Brolicks busy schedule.  Taco Bells
representative directed the NCC to submit its request in writing and send it
certified mail to Mr. Brolick.

On February 27 Dr. Edgar sent the resolution to Mr. Brolick via an overnight
carrier, along with a request that Mr. Brolick meet with him and with heads
of NCC member communions regarding the fasters concerns. To date, Dr. Edgar
has not received a reply.

In addition to the resolution, the NCC Executive Board has initiated its own
study of conditions leading to the boycott and has called on NCC member
communions to do the same. This study process will prepare the Board for
discussion, at its October 2003 meeting, on whether to propose that the NCC
s General Assembly endorse the boycott. The General Assembly, which is the
NCCs highest policymaking body, is scheduled to meet November 10-13, 2003,
in Jackson, Miss.

At issue is the fact that farm workers are earning sub-poverty wages for
picking tomatoes that are used in Taco Bell products. According to the
Department of Labor, their wages (ranging from 40 to 50 cents per 32-pound
bucket) have not changed in 20 years.

Because agricultural workers are explicitly excluded from the National Labor
Relations Act, the growers that employ these workers are under no legal
obligation to dialogue with them. Therefore, the workers are seeking to
establish supply chain responsibility by pressuring Taco Bell, a major
purchaser of southwest Florida tomatoes, to ensure that its suppliers deal
fairly with workers.

CIW is calling for three-way negotiations among the company, the growers and
the farm workers. Because Taco Bell has refused to intervene or to accept
responsibility for the manner in which its food is produced, the Coalition
of Immokalee Workers has called for a boycott of Taco Bell restaurants and
products.

Before calling for the boycott, the farm workers tried for more than six
years to establish dialogue with growers, at various times engaging in work
stoppages, a 30-day hunger strike, a 230-mile march, and appeals to Florida
state government. When these measures yielded no results, the CIW turned to
Taco Bell for assistance early in 2000.

After a year of silence from Taco Bell, the CIW called for the boycott of
Taco Bell in February 2001. In a subsequent meeting with worker
representatives, Taco Bell and its parent company, YUM! Brands, maintained
that they would not intervene in what they described as a private labor
matter between suppliers and their workers.

For more information on issues behind the Taco Bell boycott, visit the Web
sites of: Coalition of Immokalee Workers (www.ciw-online.org
<http://www.ciw-online.org>), the Presbyterian Church (USA)
(www.pcusa.org/boycott), the United Church of Christ (www.ucc.org) and the
National Farm Worker Ministry (www.nfwm.org <http://www.nfwm.org>).

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