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Can a group of Immokalee farm workers persuade
executives of the world's largest restaurant corporation
to think of a small increase in production cost as a
major marketing investment?
That is the unanswered question after a 17-day cross-country
bus caravan from the fields of Florida to a Marriott
in Irvine, Calif., and the headquarters of Tricon Global
Restaurants. In a hotel meeting room, people who pick
tomatoes for a living sat across the table from corporate
vice presidents. They discussed the difference one penny
could make.
About 65 members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers
and student activists made the trip to protest the low
wages paid tomato pickers. Tricon owns 7,000 Taco Bell
restaurants -- besides Pizza Hut and KFC -- and buys
huge quantities of Florida tomatoes from growers such
as Six L Packing Co. Inc.
The workers earn 40 cents for every 32-pound bucket
of tomatoes and average about $7,500 a year. They want
Taco Bell to agree voluntarily to pay the growers one
cent more per pound and let the increase pass on to
the pickers. Restaurant customers wouldn't even notice.
Yet that penny would be enough to give farm workers
a living wage and substantially improve their conditions.
The idea has been around for two years and has gained
momentum in recent months. Student groups have taken
up the cause on campuses. Boycotts and protests have
targeted Taco Bell restaurants in a couple of dozen
states.
Organizers called this month's caravan to California
the "Taco Bell Truth Tour" and attracted the
same kind of collegians who assailed the tobacco industry
and clothing sweatshops. Student activism was instrumental
in forcing Nike to improve its overseas contractors'
working conditions, and that same force is aiding the
field workers.
Internet e-mail connections generated large local crowds
of protesters as the pickers' buses rolled into Taco
Bell parking lots in Louisville, Atlanta, Chicago, Madison,
Wis., Salt Lake City, San Francisco, Flagstaff, Ariz.,
Albuquerque and Memphis. All those cities now have heard
of Immokalee, an isolated farm town in the northeast
corner of Collier County.
"We work in sweatshop conditions in the fields,"
says Lucas Benitez, an organizer who has picked Florida
tomatoes for 10 years. "We ask that Taco Bell not
just sell fast food but also fair food. One penny a
pound could do that."
When Mr. Benitez got off the bus at Tricon's headquarters,
about 1,100 demonstrators were with him. More than 100
police officers and company security guards circled
the 12-story headquarters.
The youthful makeup of the crowd was sobering for the
company's marketing department. Taco Bell relies on
heavy sales to the 18-to-24-year-old demographic group.
If enough of these young consumers turn into boycotters,
an unhappy tale will be told on the bottom line.
Both sides agree that the 90-minute meeting at the Marriott
was cordial enough. Jonathan Blum, a senior vice president
with Taco Bell, told reporters that he agreed to meet
with the workers as a "common courtesy." A
spokeswoman said that while the executives listened,
Tricon is staying with the position it has held for
months: The dispute is between farm workers and growers
and is none of the restaurant company's business.
Yet passing the buck instead of the penny leaves Taco
Bell in a predicament as the boycotters' volume rises.
At some point, a light could go on and someone at Tricon
might see an opportunity.
A couple of years ago, the company spent millions on
a popular advertising campaign featuring a talking Chihuahua.
Today, the ideal spokesman for the company is none other
than Lucas Benitez.
What if he and his fellow farm workers became Taco Bell
supporters instead of critics? What if they encouraged
people, students in particular, to patronize the restaurants?
What if they publicly endorsed Taco Bell for setting
a standard of fairness for workers and taking a courageous
step toward ending decades of abuse in the fields?
Consumers reward companies for doing the right thing.
They seek out dolphin-safe tuna, detergent in recycled
boxes and sneakers that aren't glued by children.
Mr. Benitez has offered Taco Bell a unique opportunity.
The company should hire him.
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