Farmworkers turn up heat on Taco Bell

Scott Harris, AFL Staff

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) is expanding its year-and-a-half-old boycott campaign against fast food giant Taco Bell, demanding it intervene to improve working conditions for farmworkers who pick the tomatoes which supply the chain.

"The tomatoes Taco Bell buys for its tacos and chalupas are produced in what can only be described as sweatshop conditions," explains CIW organizer Lucas Benitez.

Workers, most of whom are immigrants from Latin America, are paid 45-50 cents for every thirty-two pound bucket of tomatoes they pick, a wage that has been virtually stagnant since 1980.

At this wage, workers must pick two tons of tomatoes in a day to earn $50.

CIW organizers also point to terrible working conditions, which are hard to combat since seasonal farmworkers are excluded from the national labour relations act and Florida is a "right to work" state.

"Twenty years of picking at sub-poverty wages, no right to overtime pay, no right to organize without fear of being fired, no health insurance, no sick leave, no paid holidays or paid vacation, and no pension is a national disgrace" says Benitez.

The Florida tomato industry is dominated by a half-dozen corporations which supply major restaurant chains. CIW says that as one of the largest buyers, Taco Bell has the responsibility to ensure good working conditions in its supplier’s fields.

Jonathan Blum, public affairs VP for the parent company of Taco Bell, says they are not involved. "This a labour dispute between the workers and their employer. We don’t intervene in any company’s labour dispute."

CIW says this was the same response Nike first made about sweatshop conditions in its subcontractors’ factories, and points out that Taco Bell has previously intervened to improve conditions for farm animals in its supplier’s operations.

According to CIW information, if Taco Bell paid just one cent more per pound of tomatoes, and insisted the increase be passed on to pickers, wages would nearly double.

Such an increase would mean one quarter of one cent passed on to consumers for the average meal.

The campaign, which was launched in April of 2001 also demands that Taco Bell open up a three-way dialogue with suppliers and CIW to address working conditions.

On February 24th, farmwokers will begin a hunger strike at the global headquarters of Taco Bell in Irvine, California. Solidarity fasts and protests are planned across the country on Feburary 28th.

In 2001, Taco Bell had sales of over $5 billion, while its parent corporation YUM Inc., which is the world’s largest restaurant system, reported sales of over $22 billion from its five restaurant chains.

"When you look at the difference in power between us as farmworkers and Taco Bell as a billion dollar corporation, you may think we are crazy for taking them on," says CIW member Romeo Ramirez.

"They have all the wealth and political power, and we have only one weapon. But that weapon-the truth-is the most powerful thing on earth, so we are certain that we will prevail."

For more information on the campaign, visit the Coalition of Immokalee Workers website at www.ciw-online.org.