http://www.ciw-online.org/news.htmlIT'S OVER... AND WE WON!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
COALITION OF IMMOKALEE WORKERS, TACO BELL® REACH
GROUNDBREAKING AGREEMENT
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. CIW/Taco
Bell Resolution Page 2
“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
Bowls®, 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.
##END##
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
