*** 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, including fast food mega-chains like Taco Bell and Burger King. 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 30,000 restaurants around the globe, forming the "world's largest restaurant system in terms of units", according to Tricon's 1999 Annual Report. Also according to that same report, Tricon's system-wide sales reached nearly $22 billion in 1999, with Taco Bell alone reporting over $5.2 billion in system wide sales that year. Tricon reported more than 1.2 billion dollars in reported operating profit in 1999.

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. Taco Bell is an important client with a great deal of influence due to the amount of tomatoes it buys every year.

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.

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. Emil J. Brolick, President and Chief Concept Officer

Taco Bell Corp.

17901 Von Karman

Irvine, California 92614

tel. (949) 863-4500

fax (949) 863-4537

Your calls and letters really help. Thank you for your support.