wfn.org | [UCC NEWS] UCC welcomes Taco Bell-boycott tour to Cleveland

[guessb@ucc.org]

United Church of Christ
United Church News
The Rev. J. Bennett Guess, News Director
216-736-2177
<guessb@ucc.org>
<http://www.ucc.org>

Edith Rasell
Minister for Labor Relations and Community Economic Development
United Church of Christ's Justice and Witness Ministries
217-736-3709
<raselle@ucc.org>

For immediate release
March 1, 2005

United Church of Christ welcomes Taco Bell-boycott tour to Cleveland

The Cleveland-based United Church of Christ will welcome more than 100
Florida farm workers and student allies to the UCC's national offices on
Thursday, March 3, when the "2005 Taco Bell Truth Tour" rolls into town.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) will hold a teach-in at 4:45 p.m.
on Thursday at the UCC's Church House (700 Prospect Ave. in downtown
Cleveland) before leading a "colorful, peaceful protest march and rally" at
5:30 p.m. at a nearby Taco Bell, according to Edith Rasell, the UCC's
minister for labor relations and community economic development.

The Cleveland stop is part of a 13-city educational tour, originating on
Feb. 28 in Immokalee, Fla., where participants hope to "spread the truth
about the exploitation behind Taco Bell's products," Rasell said.

The tour will culminate on March 12 in Louisville, Ky., -- the corporate
home of Yum Brands, Taco Bell's parent company -- where a day-long
demonstration and prayer vigil will be held. According to Rasell, thousands
of activists, including actor Martin Sheen, will call on Yum Brands "to
take responsibility for the sweatshop conditions prevalent in its
suppliers' fields."

"The UCC believes that God calls us to work for justice and to stand in
solidarity with the poor and marginalized," Rasell said. "In living out
this call, members of the UCC have for many years stood in solidarity with
farm workers, the people who put food on our tables but too often cannot
afford to feed themselves."

Rasell said Florida's tomato pickers are paid just one-third of what they
received 25 years ago and "face harsh conditions and indignities in the
fields."

The CIW was formed to improve farm workers' working conditions, but after
initial local efforts were unsuccessful, CIW called for a national boycott
of Taco Bell, a firm that buys many Immokalee-grown tomatoes.

In 2001, the UCC's General Synod was the first national church body to
endorse the boycott. Since that time, other religious bodies have joined
with the UCC, including the Presbyterian Church (USA), United Methodist
Church, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Unitarian Universalist
Service Committee, American Friends Service Committee, Alliance of Baptists
and National Council of Churches of Christ, among others.

"The UCC is committed to stand with these workers, our sisters and brothers
in Christ, in their struggle for fair pay, improved working conditions
and
dignity on the job," Rasell said.

The UCC has 1.3-million members in nearly 6,000 congregations throughout
the United States and Puerto Rico. It was formed in 1957 with the union of
the Congregational Christian Churches and the Evangelical and Reformed
Church.

*********************************************************************
The Rev. J. Bennett Guess
Editor, United Church News
700 Prospect Ave.
Cleveland, Ohio 44115-1100
(216) 736-2177 <guessb@ucc.org>
http://www.ucc.org/ucnews