wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Boycott accomplishes its purpose

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #8666 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

05134
March 8, 2005

Boycott accomplishes its purpose

Fast-food giant, impoverished tomato pickers reach historic agreement

by Evan Silverstein

LOUISVILLE - A nearly four-year-long national consumer boycott of fast-food
giant Taco Bell came to a successful end Tuesday when officials of Taco
Bell's parent company, Yum! Brands, Inc., met with representatives of Florida
tomato pickers and reached a deal that both sides called a victory for human
rights.

	Taco Bell's Louisville-based parent company Yum! Brands, Inc., agreed
to address the low wages and poor working conditions of workers in the
Florida tomato-growing industry and to pay a one-cent-per-pound price
increase that its suppliers will "pass through" to the workers.

	Yum! and worker representatives announced jointly that the boycott is
over.

	The Presbyterian Church (USA) has long been a supporter of the
boycott and of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), the labor
organization that represents migrant workers who pick tomatoes in Florida
fields.

	Yum! and the CIW also announced jointly during a news conference
Tuesday that Taco Bell will undertake efforts with the CIW on several fronts
to improve working conditions in the fields.  

	Taco Bell recently secured an agreement with several of its tomato
suppliers, who actually employ the farmworkers, to pass along the
company-funded equivalent of a penny-per-pound directly to the workers, said
Jonathan Blum, Yum Brands' senior vice president.

	"We are challenging our tomato suppliers to meet those higher
standards, and will seek to do business with those who do," Blum said. "We
have already added language to our Supplier Code of Conduct to ensure that
indentured servitude by suppliers is strictly forbidden - and we will require
strict compliance with all existing laws. Finally, we pledge to aid in
efforts at the state level to seek new laws that better protect all Florida
tomato farmworkers." 

	CIW agreed to call off the boycott and said the agreement
"establishes a new standard of social responsibility for the fast-food
industry."

	Lucas Benitez, a CIW co-founder, described the move as a historic
victory for the farmworkers.

	"It's 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," he said. "This sends a clear challenge to other industry
leaders."

	The CIW is a member-led organization of agricultural workers based in
Immokalee, FL, that seeks justice for farmworkers and promotes their fair
treatment in accordance with national and international labor standards. 

	Among its accomplishments, the CIW has aided in the prosecution of
five slavery operations by the Department of Justice, and the liberation of
more than 1,000 indentured workers. 

	The CIW, whose principal demand was the one-penny increase in tomato
prices for the farmworkers, launched the boycott in April 2001, pressuring
the fast-food giant and its parent corporation to pressure tomato suppliers
to improve wages and working conditions for the workers. They also urged Taco
Bell to develop and monitor a code of conduct for growers and packers.

	The 214th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 2002
endorsed the boycott and called for discussions involving Taco Bell, its
tomato suppliers and representatives of the CIW.

	The PC(USA) has stood with the farmworkers during the boycott,
helping to arrange meetings between Yum! executives and members of the
Coalition. An eight-mile protest march to Yum! headquarters last year started
at the Presbyterian Center. 

	The stated clerk of the Assembly, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, who
also appeared at the news conference, called upon all members of the
denomination to immediately stop boycotting Taco Bell and to join with the
CIW and Yum! "in advancing the gains for human rights made today throughout
the fast-food industry."

	"A new day is dawning in the fast-food and agricultural industries,
and we are privileged to witness its rising," Kirkpatrick said. 

	On Saturday the Presbyterian Center will host farmworkers and
supporters for a noon-time celebration featuring music, theater and speakers,
including actor-activist Martin Sheen. 

	The event originally was planned as a peaceful rally outside Yum!
headquarters as part of the CIW's 2005 "Taco Bell Truth Tour". On Tuesday it
instead became a celebration.

	Farmworkers are among the lowest-paid and most exploited laborers in
the United States, according to the Department of Labor. Their median annual
salary is $7,500, far below the poverty line. Most are small family farmers
from Haiti, Guatemala and Mexico. 

	Benitez said the extra penny will make a significant difference in
the workers' standard of living.

	Other religious groups that joined the PC(USA) in endorsing the
boycott include the United Methodist Church, the United Church of Christ, the
Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, the Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ), the American Friends Service Committee, the Alliance of Baptists,
Pax Christi USA and the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA.

	The boycott was also endorsed by Bishop John J. Nevins of the Diocese
of Venice in Florida, the National Farm Worker Ministry and the Episcopal
Migrant Ministry. Various agricultural missions and regional and local bodies
also endorsed it.

	PC(USA) officials sent a letter to the denomination's middle
governing bodies on Tuesday, informing them of the agreement and announcing
the end of the boycott. The Presbyterian News Service has posted the full
text of the letter online.

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