Coalition of Immokalee Workers Raises Taco Bell Boycott to National Level
1 April 2002
US Regional Office partner the Coalition of Immokalee Workers went national in its efforts to win support for better wages for Florida's tomato pickers. After years of fruitless dialogue with the growers and companies that employ thousands of pickers in Florida, the Coalition has taken its strugggle to Taco Bell. The reason: Taco Bell, and its parent company Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., has enormous market power and is the primary destination for the majority of the tomatoes picked in Florida. Just as earlier anti-sweatshop campaigns directed at Nike and other apparel manufacturers won better conditions and rights for workers down the supply chains, so the Coalition aims to pressure Taco Bell into setting wage levels and working standards for those who produce the tomatoes it purchases.
The Coalition has just wrapped up its Taco Bell Truth Tour, a caravan of migrant workers, activists and college students who embarked on a 15-city, national bus tour to raise awareness about Taco Bell's imprimatur on sweatshop conditions in the nation's tomato fields. The highlight of the tour was a day-long "convergence" in Los Angeles on March 10 followed by a march and protest outside Taco Bell headquarters in nearby Irvine, CA.
For more information regarding the Taco Bell boycott, check out the CIW web site or contact The Coalition of Immokalee Workers at 941-821-5481 or 941-285-2368.
