Protesters rally at Yum! headquarters

Religious groups fast, pray in support of farmworkers

by Evan Silverstein

       The gathering outside Yum! Brands Inc., was a peaceful demonstration in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers(CIW), a group that represents farmworkers who pick tomatoes that Taco Bell uses in its products.

The Rev. Susan Andrews, moderator of the 215th General Assembly, was on hand for the rally.
Photos by Evan Silverstein

       The workers, from Immokalee, FL, are demanding higher wages and improved working conditions from growers who supply tomatoes to Yum! Brands.

       The CIW launched the boycott to pressure the Louisville-based company to use its market leverage to force Florida growers to pay the workers one cent more per pound for tomatoes.

       “We want to send a big, clear message to Taco Bell and Yum! Brands that slavery is still alive in Florida,” Lucas Benitez, a CIW leader, said during the May 20 rally. “We want to remind them that this is not a problem of public relations, this is a problem of human rights and human suffering. We want them to take some action.”

       The 214th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) endorsed the national boycott of Taco Bell and called for good-faith dialogue between its tomato supplier and representatives of the coalition. 

       The Rev. Susan Andrews, moderator of the PC(USA)’s 215th General Assembly, addressed the crowd outside the offices of Yum!, which also owns Long John Silvers, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Pizza Hut and A&W Root Beer restaurants. 

       Andrews visited Immokalee last month, witnessing the intolerable conditions the farmworkers live under and learning that slavery in the farm fields of the United States is a major focus of federal law enforcement.

       “We met with a federal prosecutor who showed us pictures of a young girl who had been a sex slave because of unconscionable men in this industry,” said Andrews, who at one point waved a sign that read, “Stop Sweatshops in the Fields.”

         “We went and saw dilapidated trailers and run-down homes where dozens of workers must live together because it’s the only way they can pay the exorbitant rent,” Andrews said.

       The moderator said people of faith have a duty to help people who are marginalized and exploited.

       “We did this (decided to support the boycott) not to make a political statement but to make a witness to our faith,” Andrews said. “Those of us who follow Jesus Christ know that Jesus preached the good news to the poor to proclaim liberty to the captives, to set free the oppressed. We believe through the great work of the Taco Bell boycott, indeed we together across religious lines and political lines are providing abundant life for all.”

       The group included Presbyterians, PC(USA) national staff members, other church leaders, students, union members, farmers and Christians from around the nation.

         To the rhythm of Latin music and rock ‘n’ roll, they chanted “Boycott Taco Bell,” and waved signs with such messages as “No Sweat-Shop Tacos,” “Taco Bell Exploits Farmworkers,” and “No Slavery.”  

       Many participants wore red armbands or bandannas to indicate that they were fasting in support of the boycott. Others wore anti-Taco Bell buttons bearing a picture of a dog used in Taco Bell commercials with a line drawn through it. They vowed to stand firm with the workers.  

       “I could have easily been the one in the fields,” said Mairena, a “resident in ministry” at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church near Philadelphia. “A lot of these folks here are from Guatemala, Mexico and Central America.”

       Mairena was making his way to the Presbytery of Santa Fe in New Mexico, where he was to be ordained a few days later as a minister of Word and Sacrament. 

       “I’m looking at it like I’m coming into ministry and setting the tone ... I think God is telling me to set,” Mairena said. “Being in the pulpit and being with the people.”

        Organizers said about 1,600 supporters around the globe were holding similar fasting-and-prayer events in solidarity with the farmworkers.

        Messages of support from across the country and overseas were read during the demonstration. Some were from as far away as Ramallah, Palestine, and Chiapas, Mexico.

       Olgha Sierra Sandman, a vice president of the National Farm Worker Ministry, which supports farmworker rights, said the interfaith organization is committed to the Immokalee Workers’ cause, no matter how long it takes.

        “Justice is a long road. ... Justice is not a sprint run,” she said. “It’s a long-distance run. With that long-distance run we are willing to stay with your coalition until you see Yum! Brands and Taco Bell respond to what you are asking.”

        The farmworkers’ group is pressuring Taco Bell to do what the coalition has been unable to do on its own — persuade Florida growers to pay the pickers more for the buckets of tomatos they pick. They now earn 40 to 45 cents per 32-pound bucket, a rate that hasn’t changed appreciably in more than 20 years.   

        With more than 33,000 restaurants worldwide, Yum! is the largest fast-food conglomerate in the world.

Supporters of the Taco Bell boycott organized a one-day fast and prayer vigil last week during a Yum! shareholders’ meeting.

        Coalition members said they don’t feel alone in their fight against the global giant because the boycott has become the focus of a growing movement of church leaders, students and activists — after starting with just eight farm workers.

        “At the beginning of our movement we asked for justice, and many laughed,” said Gerardo Reyes Chavez, a CIW member. “Now we know that when we’re demanding justice there are people in every corner of this country who are joined with us. We know that we’re on the right path, and we know that we will arrive where we need to go.”

        The peaceful gathering coincided with the scheduled annual meeting of Yum! shareholders, during which several coalition members, including Benitez, were allowed to speak. During that meeting, Benitez declined a Yum! offer intended to end the three-year-old boycott. (See related story, Farmworkers spurn Taco Bell offer.)

        A proposed shareholder sustainability resolution, calling on Yum! to report comprehensively on labor conditions throughout its supply chain, appeared likely to fail. However, boycott supporters said enough “yes” votes were obtained to bring the measure back next year.

        It was the third straight year the coalition demonstrated outside Yum! headquarters during the shareholder meeting, according to the Rev. Noelle Damico, a United Church of Christ minister who is the national boycott coordinator for the PC(USA).

        She said people of faith are fasting and praying at Yum! headquarters and on their own around the world to draw public attention to the “egregious conditions of exploitation” in the agricultural fields of Florida.

       “We are calling upon the company to take supply chain responsibility and move to work with the coalition in concrete ways to end this exploitation,” Damico said. “Any company that benefits by exploitation has a moral and ethical responsibility to end that exploitation.”

             Damico said the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, the PC(USA)’s stated clerk, was unable to attend, but fasted in solidarity with the farmworkers and sent a message of support.

             The Rev. Marian McClure, director of the PC(USA)’s Worldwide Ministries Division, invited the protesters to remove their shoes, as God told Moses to do in the desert.

               “Jesus said, ‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,’” McClure said as she led the group in prayer. “Today, let us hunger and thirst for righteousness and bring that as our offering to God in prayer.”

             The farmworkers departed for Immokalee in the evening after breaking their fast with supporters at a local retreat center.

             The boycott has received increasing national attention and the support of several mainline Christian denominations. Earlier this month, the United Methodist Church became the largest denomination to have voted to support the campaign.

               “These numbers are getting big,” said Virginia Nesmith, executive director of the National Farm Worker Ministry and a member of the Justice and Advocacy Commission of the National Council of Churches (NCC), which also has voted to support the boycott. “They can’t contain this group. It’s growing faster and bigger than they can imagine.” 

             For more information about the boycott, visit the Web sites of the workers’ coalition and the  NCC and the  boycott page of the PC(USA) site.