Worker coalition ends boycott of Taco Bell  March 9, 2005
A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom* A United Methodist-backed consumer boycott against Taco Bell has ended. The
Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee Workers announced March 8 that it
is ending the boycott after Taco Bell agreed to work with the
organization to address working conditions and the wages of farm workers
in the Florida tomato industry. In
a joint press release with the coalition, Taco Bell President Emil
Brolick said the company recognized “that Florida tomato workers do not
enjoy the same rights and conditions as employees in other industries
and there is need for reform.” Any solution must be industry-wide, he
said, but Taco Bell will play a leadership role to be part of the
solution. The
United Methodist Church officially joined the boycott last spring by a
vote of the denomination’s 2004 General Conference, its top legislative
body. Delegates also had approved a worker-related boycott of Mt. Olive
Pickle Co., which ended with an agreement last September. “I
look forward to having a bean and cheese burrito and am very glad Taco
Bell has cooperated with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to address
fundamental rights and working conditions for the tomato pickers in
Immokalee, Florida,” said Jim Winkler, chief executive, United Methodist
Board of Church and Society. “I
believe this shows very clearly what an enormous impact the United
Methodist Church, the third largest denomination in the country, can
have when we put our full weight behind struggles for justice and
peace.” On
Feb. 28, farm workers began their “2005 Taco Bell Truth Tour,” which
was to include a week of action and a mass rally in Louisville, Ky.,
where Taco Bell’s parent company, Yum! Brands, has its headquarters. John
Hill, a Church and Society executive who said he was “surprised and
delighted” by the agreement, expects that the March 12 mass rally will
now be used to call on other companies to follow Taco Bell’s lead. The success of the boycott, he added, “helps to address those skeptics who think economic boycotts aren’t effective.” Other
religious groups that had endorsed the boycott included the National
Council of Churches, the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ), the United Church of Christ and the American
Friends Service Committee. The
Rev. Robert Edgar, a United Methodist pastor and chief executive of the
National Council of Churches, said he was excited about achieving “two
victories in one year on migrant labor issues” through agreements with
Taco Bell and Mt. Olive Pickle. “It’s
really very pleasing to see the church and people who are struggling
collaborate together, much like they did back in the civil rights
movement,” he told United Methodist News Service. “They can make a
difference.” Such
work for economic justice must continue, according to Edgar, who
pointed to the U.S. Senate’s recent vote against an increase in the
minimum wage. “People living on minimum wage are showing up at soup
kitchens and homeless shelters because they can’t make it any more,” he
declared.
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The Rev. Robert Edgar |
Edgar, who himself
had made several attempts to speak directly to Taco Bell’s chief
executive officer about the boycott, pointed out that “here is a company
that did the right thing.” According
to the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, the agreement with Taco Bell
“sets a new standard of social responsibility for the fast-food
industry.” The
boycott originated in 2001 because the coalition and others believed
that Taco Bell was not addressing issues of alleged worker exploitation
by its tomato suppliers. The average wage of 40 cents per 32-pound
bucket has not changed in more than 20 years, according to the U.S.
Department of Labor. Taco
Bell recently secured an agreement with several of its tomato growers
to “pass through” the equivalent of one-cent per pound directly to
workers in an effort to improve wages, according to the press release.
Brolick said the company would work only with growers who comply with
that procedure. *Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York. News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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