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(U.S.A.) 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 (U.S.A.) 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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