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Boycott Taco Bell...Support Florida Farmworkers |
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by zach
Email: sfauiuc (nospam) hotmail.com (unverified!) |
29 Apr 2003
Modified: 01:31:21 AM |
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Florida Farmworkers from the town of Immokalee are asking people to refuse to eat at Taco Bell until the corporation demands that its suppliers hold talks with farmworkers about better working and living conditions... |
Over spring break I travelled to the town of Immokalee in southern Florida from the University on an alternative spring break trip. Immokalee is a town of about 15,000 people, most of whom are migrant farmworkers who speak little to no english. There, we were introduced to an organization called the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, a group that represents the interests of migrant farmworkers throughout the south.
Work in Immokalee's fields is not guaranteed day to day. Each morning, the workers wake around 4 in the morning and head to one of a few centers where they travel from bus to bus, hoping to get a seat and work for the day. A large number of the workers spend the day picking tomotoes at a rate of roughly $.40 for each 32 pound basket of tomatoes they pick. A good worker can pick about 120 baskets in a day, which give him or her about $50.00. The average worker makes about $7500 a year, which is well below the poverty line.
Workers pick tomatoes for packing companies, which then sell them to to purchasers. One of these companies that buys Florida tomatoes is Taco Bell. The CIW has tried a number of methods such as a general strike, hunger strikes, and a 200 mile march to get the attention of the packing companies, but they still refuse to meet with representatives of the workers.
The CIW then chose the boycott of Taco Bell as their means of gaining the right to talks. They are not boycotting Taco Bell because they hate them, but rather because Taco Bell is a major purchaser of Immokalee tomatoes, and thus it has the power to demand that its suppliers treat their workers fairly. With the great power they have comes great responsibility.
I ask the you go to the CIW website at www.ciw-online.org to hear their arguments and that you consider changing your fast-food choices if they include Taco Bell. Also, my group from the trip has started an RSO at the U of I called the Student-Farmworker Alliance, which acknowledges that the 18-24 demographic is Taco Bell's main advertising target. Please e-mail us at sfauiuc (at) hotmail.com for information about any events we might have. Thank you. |
See also:
http://www.ciw-online.org
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