[Peace-discuss] Fwd: [uslawaffiliates] COALITION OF IMMOKALEE
WORKERS, TACO BELL REACH GROUNDBREAKING AGREEMENT
Al Kagan
akagan at uiuc.edu
Tue Mar 8 23:43:28 CST 2005
FYI, some us protested the local Taco Bell awhile ago.
Begin forwarded message:
> From: "U.S. Labor Against the War" <uslaw at igc.org>
> Date: March 8, 2005 5:17:43 PM CST
> To: (Recipient list suppressed)
> Subject: [uslawaffiliates] COALITION OF IMMOKALEE WORKERS, TACO BELL
> REACH GROUNDBREAKING AGREEMENT
>
> [Note: The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is an affiliate of U.S.
> Labor Against the War. Please send them messages of solidarity on the
> occasion of this great victory.]
>
> COALITION OF IMMOKALEE WORKERS, TACO BELL REACH
> GROUNDBREAKING AGREEMENT
>
> Contact: Lucas Benitez, CIW/239-503-0133
> Julia Perkins, CIW/239-986-0891
> Laurie Schalow, Taco Bell Corp./949-863-3915 or onsite at
> 949-637-1153
>
> CIW to end Taco Bell boycott; Taco Bell to pay
> penny-per-pound surcharge demanded by workers, will work
> with CIW to raise farm labor standards in supply chain,
> across industry as a whole
>
> March 8, 2005 (IMMOKALEE/LOUISVILLE) - In a
> precedent-setting move, fast-food industry leader Taco
> Bell Corp., a division of Yum! Brands (NYSE:YUM), has
> agreed to work with the Florida-based farm worker
> organization, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), to
> address the wages and working conditions of farmworkers in
> the Florida tomato industry.
>
> Taco Bell announced today that it will fund a penny per
> pound "pass-through" with its suppliers of Florida
> tomatoes, and will undertake joint efforts with the CIW on
> several fronts to improve working conditions in Florida's
> tomato fields. For its part, the CIW has agreed to end
> its three-year boycott of Taco Bell, saying that the
> agreement "sets a new standard of social responsibility
> for the fast-food industry."
>
> "As an industry leader, we are pleased to lend our support
> to and work with the CIW to improve working and pay
> conditions for farmworkers in the Florida tomato fields,"
> said Emil Brolick, Taco Bell president. "We recognize that
> Florida tomato workers do not enjoy the same rights and
> conditions as employees in other industries, and there is
> a need for reform. We have indicated that any solution
> must be industry-wide, as our company simply does not have
> the clout alone to solve the issues raised by the CIW, but
> we are willing to play a leadership role within our
> industry to be part of the solution," Brolick added.
>
> Taco Bell has recently secured an agreement with several
> of its tomato-grower suppliers, who employ the
> farmworkers, to pass-through the company-funded equivalent
> of one-cent per pound directly to the workers.
>
> "With this agreement, we will be the first in our industry
> to directly help improve farmworkers' wages," added
> Brolick, "And we pledge to make this commitment real by
> buying only from Florida growers who pass this penny per
> pound payment entirely on to the farmworkers, and by
> working jointly with the CIW and our suppliers to monitor
> the pass-through for compliance. We hope others in the
> restaurant industry and supermarket retail trade will
> follow our leadership." Yum! Brands and Taco Bell will
> also work with the CIW to help ensure that Florida tomato
> pickers enjoy working terms and conditions similar to
> those that workers in other industries enjoy.
>
> "We are challenging our tomato suppliers to meet those
> higher standards and will seek to do business with those
> who do," said Jonathan Blum, senior vice president, Yum!
> Brands. "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,"
> added Blum.
>
> The Company indicated that it believes other restaurant
> chains and supermarkets, along with the Florida Tomato
> Committee, should join in seeking legislative reform,
> because "human rights are universal and we hope others
> will follow our company's lead."
>
> "This is an important victory for farmworkers, 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. This sends a clear
> challenge to other industry leaders," said Lucas Benitez,
> a leader of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
>
> "Systemic change to ensure human rights for farmworkers is
> long-overdue. Taco Bell has now taken an important
> leadership role by securing the penny per pound
> pass-through from its tomato suppliers, and by the other
> efforts it has committed to undertake to help win equal
> rights for farmworkers," Benitez added. "We now call on
> the National Council of Churches, Presbyterian Church
> (U.S.A.), Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human
> Rights and other organizations to join the CIW and end
> their boycott of Taco Bell, and to recognize the Company
> by supporting its ongoing leadership in our fight against
> human rights abuses. But our work together is not done.
> Now we must convince other companies that they have the
> power to change the way they do business and the way
> workers are treated."
>
> Representatives from the Carter Center assisted the
> discussions and resolution between the two
> organizations. "I commend the Coalition of Immokalee
> Workers for their principled leadership in this very
> important campaign. I am pleased Taco Bell has taken a
> leadership role to help reform working conditions for
> Florida farmworkers and has committed to use its power to
> effect positive human rights change. I now call on others
> in the industry to follow Taco Bell's lead to help the
> tomato farmworkers," said former President Jimmy Carter.
>
> Taco Bell Corp., based in Irvine, California, is a
> subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc. and the nation's leading
> Mexican-style quick service restaurant chain serving
> tacos, burritos, signature Quesadillas, Border BowlsR,
> nachos and other specialty items. In 2004, Taco Bell
> purchased approximately 10 million pounds of Florida
> tomatoes, representing less than one percent of Florida's
> tomato production. Taco Bell serves more than 35 million
> consumers each week in more than 6,500 restaurants in the
> U.S.
>
> CIW is a membership-led organization of agricultural
> workers based in Immokalee, Florida, 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 over 1,000
> workers. The CIW uses creative methods to educate
> consumers about human rights abuses in the U.S.
> agriculture industry, corporate social responsibility, and
> how consumers can help workers realize their social change
> goals.
>
> #############################################################
> Mexico Solidarity Network http://www.mexicosolidarity.org
> This message is sent to you because you are subscribed to
> the mailing list <mexicosolidaritynetwork at mexicosolidarity.org>.
Al Kagan
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61820
USA
tel. 217-333-6519
fax 217-333-2214
akagan at uiuc.edu
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: text/enriched
Size: 13258 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/private/peace-discuss/attachments/20050308/67b0b838/attachment-0001.bin
More information about the Peace-discuss
mailing list