forwarded by Michael Hoover > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 17:35:23 EDT > Subject: [ciw-announce] Taco Bell Action Alert! > > Please distribute the following Action Alert as widely as possible - Thanks > > **** ... ACTION ALERT... ACTION ALERT... ACTION ALERT... **** > > Coalition of Immokalee Workers needs your help to make Taco Bell a part of > the solution in Florida's farmworkers' fight for dialogue and a fair wage > > New Initiative in Tomato Pickers' Campaign! > > Today we are in the process of developing an important new initiative in our > Campaign for Dialogue and a Living Wage, an initiative intended to > address > the major corporate buyers of Immokalee tomatoes. We need your support to > make this new initiative a success. > > More and more every day, the tomatoes we produce in Immokalee go to supply > major, multi-national corporations. Long gone are the days when small, > family farmers supplied area stores and chains with locally-grown tomatoes > in season. Today, huge corporate growers with multi-state operations sell > tomatoes year round to even bigger corporate buyers. The tomatoes Immokalee > workers pick end up in Whoppers, Chalupas, and Big Macs across the country, > and even overseas. Those fast food giants receive cheap, high-quality US > tomatoes, thanks to the sacrifices of thousands of hard-working Florida > farmworkers who pick tomatoes at a piece rate that has remained virtually > unchanged for over two decades. > > We believe that the large corporations that buy Florida tomatoes must step > up to their responsibility by demanding, and obtaining, changes in the > shameful > pay and working conditions suffered by the men and women who pick their > tomatoes. > > Why Taco Bell? > > Taco Bell is part of Tricon Global Restaurants, Inc., together with Kentucky > Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut. These three major chains control more than > 29,000 restaurants around the globe, forming the world's largest > restaurant > system in terms of units, according to Tricon's 1998 Annual Report. Also > according to that same report, Tricon's system-wide sales reached over $20 > billion in 1998, with Taco Bell alone reporting over $5 billion in system > wide sales that year. Tricon reported more than 3/4 of a billion dollars in > ongoing operating profit in 1998 ($768 million). > > At the same time, according to the agricultural industry journal The > Packer, Taco Bell is a major client of the Immokalee-based Six L's Packing > Co, one of the biggest tomato producers in the United States. Indeed, fresh > tomatoes are a featured component of many of Taco Bell's best-selling > products. > > Given the sheer volume of Immokalee tomatoes it buys to supply its worldwide > operations, and given its size and economic strength, Taco Bell has the > power > to help bring about more modern, more equitable labor relations in > Immokalee's tomato fields, and with power comes responsibility. > > What Can Taco Bell Do? > > If Taco Bell were to express its support for dialogue with the Coalition to > Six L's representatives, talks might finally have a chance. Six L's > would be > hard pressed to ignore such an important client's wishes. > > Furthermore, if Taco Bell were to voluntarily pay just 1 cent more per pound, > and the growers would agree to pass that penny along to the picker, that one > penny could almost double the picking piece rate overnight. > > Communication with Taco Bell Stalled: > > After learning that Taco Bell is a key client of the Six L's Packing Co., > we > wrote to their executives in Irvine, California. In that letter, dated > January 12, 2000, we wrote: We would like to talk with representatives of > your company to discuss the conditions that we face picking tomatoes for Six > L's and other companies in our area, and to share our ideas as to how Taco > Bell could help bring about much-needed change for the workers who pick your > tomatoes. We attached a thick collection of articles so that the > executives > at Taco Bell might have a fuller idea of the farmworkers=92 situation as it > is today. We finished by saying: We truly believe that Taco Bell is a > responsible corporate neighbor and that your company understands that > conditions like those you will find in the attached articles are no longer > acceptable. > > Taco Bell never responded. Indeed, we have learned through a TV reporter > that Taco Bell has declined to get involved, deciding rather to allow the > farmworkers and the growers to work out their problems. Unfortunately, > we've been working for nearly three years now just to talk with the growers, > yet the vast majority of agribusiness leaders in Immokalee have flatly > refused to meet with representatives of their workers. Taco Bell can, and > should, help end that impasse. > > What You Can Do: > > Please, call, write, or fax Taco Bell today and ask them to: > > meet with representatives of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to discuss > how Taco Bell could help bring about long-denied justice for Florida's > farmworkers. > > Here's where to call, write, or fax: > > Mr. Peter Waller, Chief Operating Officer > Taco Bell Corp. > 17901 Von Karman > Irvine, California 92614 > tel. (949) 863-4500 > fax (949) 863-4537 > > Your calls and letters really help. If you would like to have more > information on the Taco Bell campaign, or on the Coalition of Immokalee > Workers and our efforts to improve farmworkers' working and living > conditions, please log on to our web site at: > > www.geocities.com/coaimmwkr > > Thank you for your support. > > To Post a message, send it to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To Unsubscribe, send a blank message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
