BOYCOTT VICTORY AND FUTURE OF THE FAIR FOOD CAMPAIGN FEATURED ON PBS, NPR AND THE NEW YORK TIMES!
ORDER YOUR FREE COPY OF THE “NOW” DVD TODAY!
The hot summer weather brought a storm of media attention to the Taco Bell boycott victory. From newspapers to public radio and television, the boycott victory and ongoing campaign for fair food in the fast food industry are continuing to make waves. For starters, the CIW and the story of the boycott victory were featured on a 15 minute piece that ran on the PBS news program “NOW with David Brancaccio”. From the NOW website, here’s the description of the program which originally aired on May 27:
“It’s the dirty little secret of our fast food nation: the people who pick the cheap fruits and vegetables we enjoy every day are among the worst paid and worst treated workers in America. So how did a small band of immigrant workers pressure the largest fast food company in the world to do something that could help transform these workers lives? NOW tells the remarkable David vs. Goliath story of a group of Florida tomato pickers that went toe to toe with a corporate giant and won. Overcoming a climate of fear and violence, these workers fought an incredible four-year battle against Taco Bell and its parent company, Yum! Brands, to improve their working conditions and wages. Their success may have sparked a movement that could have important consequences for the nation.”
You can order a free DVD copy of this excellent piece on the fight for farmworker justice by contacting us today! This DVD is a great tool for analyzing the historic victory and preparing for the next steps! Also, be sure to visit NOW’s website for an in-depth exploration of the boycott by clicking here.
As if that wasn’t enought, on June 16 and 17 the CIW was featured on NPR’s nationally broadcast “All Things Considered.” If you missed either part of this two-part series, you can still hear the piece and see background documents through NPR’s website by clicking here for day 1 and here for day 2.
To round out our summer media trifecta, you don’t want to miss the barrage of newspaper coverage on the victory and CIW’s next steps. The excitement even made it’s way to the Sunday New York Times (5/22)! Read the entire article: “First They Took on Taco Bell. Now, the Fast-Food World.” Here’s an excerpt:
“They led a four-year boycott against the chain until it agreed in March to pay a penny more per pound for Florida tomatoes and to adopt a code of conduct that would allow Taco Bell to sever ties to suppliers who commit abuses against farmworkers. With that triumph, the farmworkers group is turning to a larger target: the rest of the fast-food industry. The coalition has sent lettersto executives at McDonald’s, Subway and Burger King asking them to follow Taco Bell’s lead.”
The story went out on the AP Wire and was carried by major media from MSNBC to The Detroit News, spurring a couple of excellent opinion pieces that build on the AP article. From the business pages of the Motley Fool, see “The Price of Peace” here; and from the San AntonioExpress-News, “Taco Bell Serves Up Social Vigilance” here. And finally, there’s an excellent article which appeared in the Orlando Sentinel entitled, “Group Champions Migrants”. Read the full report and see photos of the CIW’s own watermelon harvesting crew by clicking here.