NCC endorses boycotts of Taco Bell, Mt. Olive Pickles
11/11/2003 News media contact: Linda Bloom · (646) 369-3759 · New York
By United Methodist News Service*
The
Coalition of Immokalee Workers protests in front of Taco Bell's
headquarters in Irvine, Calif., on Feb. 25. Photo courtesy Coalition of
Immokalee Workers, Photo number W03089, Accompanies UMNS #544
No Long Caption Available for this Story
For the first time in more than 15 years, the National Council of Churches of Christ has endorsed consumer boycotts.
The
decision to immediately join boycotts against Taco Bell and Mt. Olive
Pickle products occurred during the council's general assembly, Nov.
4-6, in Jackson, Miss. The ecumenical organization has 36 member
denominations, including the United Methodist Church, and represents
some 50 million U.S. Christians in 140,000 local congregations.
Previously,
the National Council of Churches endorsed a boycott in May 1988 against
Royal Dutch/Shell Oil because of the company's connections to the
apartheid system in South Africa.
The boycott against Taco Bell
was called in March 2001 by the Coalition of Immokalee (Fla.) Workers
after the company refused to address charges of exploitation in the
fields of its tomato suppliers, particularly Six L's Packing Co., one of
the largest U.S. tomato growers.
Three denominations in the
council - the Presbyterian Church USA, Christian Church (Disciples of
Christ) and United Church of Christ - along with the American Friends
Service Committee, had previously supported the boycott.
According
to coalition leaders, the boycott will remain in effect until the
company "convenes serious three-way talks" among the Coalition of
Immokalee Workers, Taco Bell representatives and tomato suppliers.
Boycott leaders are also calling for Taco Bell to work with the others
"to establish a code of conduct" to ensure fundamental labor rights. The
coalition, representing some 3,500 farm workers in southwest Florida,
seeks higher farm worker wages through an increase in the per-bucket
rate paid for tomatoes.
The Rev. Noelle Damico, national
coordinator of the boycott, reported that Six L's Packing Co. pays 40
cents for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes, making the company the
lowest-paying grower. The highest-paying grower gives 50 cents per
bucket. If the pay scale had kept pace with inflation, farm workers
would be earning about 75 cents a bucket today, coalition leaders said.
The
council also agreed to support the Farm Labor Organizing Committee
boycott of products produced by the Mt. Olive Pickle Co., based in Mt.
Olive, N.C. The consumer boycott, begun in March 1999, was previously
supported by the United Church of Christ, Alliance of Baptists and the
American Friends Service Committee, along with some 300 other
organizations.
In its Sept. 11-14 meeting, the United Methodist
Board of Church and Society debated joining in the boycott against the
Mt. Olive Pickle Co. The board's Peace with Justice Work Area
recommended that directors authorize the board's executive committee to
join the boycott if further progress is not made by early 2004.
Farm
workers have been unsuccessful in convincing Mt. Olive management to
participate in negotiations to improve the wages and working conditions
of workers who produce the cucumbers processed by the North Carolina
company. Mt. Olive is the nation's largest independent pickle producer
and the second largest processor of pickles and related products.
The
Rev. Bob Edgar, a United Methodist pastor who serves as the National
Council of Churches' chief staff executive, pointed out after the votes
that even good economic systems could be improved.
"We must
never build an economic system at the expense of the weak, at the
expense of the poor, at the expense of those persons in our society who
provide us the very food we eat and clothes we wear," he said.
In other business, the NCCC general assembly:
· Installed Christian Methodist Episcopal Bishop Thomas J. Hoyt Jr. as president for 2004-5. ·
Established an ecumenical "Human Genetics Policy Development Committee"
to educate church members about human genetic technologies and to
develop a new policy addressing issues raised by recent significant
changes in science and society. · Adopted a resolution on "The
Church and Public School," urging council members to increase support of
public education, such as working to bridge the achievement gap between
rich and poor schools and addressing the segregation of public schools
over the past 12 years. · Approved a resolution on the Middle East
conflict that calls for dismantling the "separation wall" being
constructed between Israel and the West Bank.
More information on the 2003 general assembly is available at www.ncccusa.org online.
# # #
*The NCCC Communications Office provided information for this report.
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