The Palm Beach Post

Tomato pickers protest at Taco Bell

By Scott McCabe, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 2, 2001

Gerardo Reyes stood outside Taco Bell, worlds away from the Mexican chili fields he picked as an 11-year-old, but still in the middle of his life-long struggle.

Reyes and a dozen tomato pickers marched outside the fast-food restaurant in suburban West Palm Beach, asking for a raise to the 40 cents
they make for every 32-pound bucket they pick. That's about $7,500 a year.

"The exploitation will continue for many more generations if we don't do something now," Reyes said through an interpreter. "What's happening in the sweatshops is happening in South Florida. Instead of sweatshops, we work in sweat fields."

Members from the Coalition of Immokalee workers waved signs stating their cause: "Drop the Chalupa," "Don't Eat Injustice," and "Let Freedom Ring, Boycott the Bell." They were joined by a rowdy bunch of activists: a 92-year-old woman, a person dressed as a tomato, a bearded man on stilts, an American Indian Movement representative, and former state Rep. Barry Silver.

One hanger-on threw himself in front of a station wagon, blocking the lot entrance and a lane of lunchtime traffic for about 15 minutes before sheriff's deputies dragged him to the side. No one was arrested.

Conditions in Immokalee, captured in Edward R. Murrow's groundbreaking 1960 documentary Harvest of Shame, haven't changed in decades,
workers said.

Wages have remained unchanged in 20 years, according to the U.S. Department of Labor statistics.

"It's shameful. The politicians and corporations know about the conditions. But consumers don't know," said organizer Laura Germino. "Things will change because the public has a heart and the corporations and politicians will respond."

The Taco Bell managersaid he wasn't allowed to comment.

Inside, Greg Steimetz, of Davie, folded his Wall Street Journal and shook his head in disapproval as a woman dressed as a felt tomato shouted to customers in line.

"If they want to earn more, they can do some other service," Steimetz said. "I believe in personal responsibility."

The Immokalee workers protested at 15 Taco Bells around the state Tuesday in connection with International Workers' Day. The holiday began in the 1880s with the fight for the eight-hour workday.

Alice Jarvis, 92, said she has fought for workers' rights since she was 13 when she earned 25 cents an hour working in a factory.

"Till the day I die, I'll be marching," said Jarvis of West Palm Beach. "Seven-thousand dollars a year? What's that? As a human being you can't stand by."

scott_mccabe@pbpost.com