United Methodists join boycott of Taco Bell May 3, 2004 By Linda Bloom*  PITTSBURGH (UMNS) — United Methodists have officially joined a boycott of Taco Bell restaurants.
First
called in March 2001 by the Florida-based Coalition of Immokalee
Workers, the consumer boycott is in protest of Taco Bell’s refusal to
address the issue of alleged worker exploitation by its tomato
suppliers. Other religious endorsers include the Presbyterian Church
(USA), the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), the United Church of
Christ, the American Friends Service Committee and the National Council
of Churches. The
boycott petition, submitted by Methodists Associated Representing the
Cause of Hispanic Americans (MARCHA), was passed May 1 without debate by
the United Methodist General Conference along with other items on a
consent calendar. The
petition said that Immokalee farm workers “earn sub-poverty wages for
picking tomatoes used in Taco Bell food products. According to the
Department of Labor, their average wage (40 cents per 32 pound bucket)
has not changed in more than 20 years.” Six L’s Packing Co., one of the
largest U.S. tomato growers, has been cited by the coalition in
particular for exploiting its workers. Because
farm workers are not covered by the National Labor Relations Act, they
also are routinely denied unemployment and workers’ compensation
benefits.  United
Methodists will remain a part of the boycott until Taco Bell “convenes
serious three-way talks between the Coalition of Immokalee Workers,
representatives of Taco Bell and their tomato supplies to address
exploitation and slavery in the fields.”
Taco
Bell also must help raise worker wages by increasing the per-pound rate
it pays for tomatoes and work with coalition and tomato industry and
suppliers “to establish a code of conduct that would ensure workers’
fundamental labor rights by defining strict wage and working condition
standards required of all Taco Bell suppliers.” The
denomination’s Council of Bishops is called to consult with the United
Methodist Board of Church and Society to name a monitoring committee to
assess the progress of negotiations between the workers’ coalition and
Taco Bell. That committee also will be empowered to recommend an end to
the boycott once the criteria in the petition are met. Denomination-wide
boycotts are rare in the United Methodist Church and can only be
approved by General Conference, the top legislative body. The last major
boycott, endorsed by the 1988 General Conference, was against Royal
Dutch/Shell Oil, related to its connections to the apartheid system in
South Africa. The church also joined a boycott initiated in 1977 against
the Nestle Company because of its marketing of infant formula to
developing countries. A
factor behind the boycott has been the refusal of Taco Bell to even
respond to requests for discussions about the tomato workers’ concerns.
The National Council of Churches, of which the United Methodist Church
is an active member, has tried to engage in dialogue with the company to
no avail. In
2003, the Rev. Robert Edgar, a United Methodist pastor and the
council’s chief executive, designated Noelle Damico of the Presbyterian
Church (USA) to dialogue on his behalf with the coalition and with Emil
Brolick, president of Taco Bell. But Brolick did not respond to Edgar’s
verbal request for a meeting with Damico or to his written request for
an appointment for himself and the heads of the council’s member
denominations. *Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer. News media contact: (412) 325-6080 during General Conference, April 27-May 7. after May 10: (615) 742-5470.
| 
Korean News
