The CIW is today spear-heading the Taco
Bell boycott. But before we launched the national boycott in April of
2001, we had been organizing locally for many years in an effort to
modernize labor relations in Florida's fields, improve wages and working
conditions for our members, and eliminate modern-day slavery.
To learn more about the history of the
Coalition, you can go to the CIW site
where you'll find all the non-Taco Bell info on the Coalition from 1995
to 2001, including past CIW campaigns, Press Archives, Photo Galleries,
and more!
1997 General Strike
Immokalee, Florida
Or, you can simply click on some of
the links here below to go directly to the pages from the CIW site that
interest you... just remember to hit the back button on your browser
to return to the boycott site!:
Yeah, things got a little wild Halloween
night at the Taco Bell on 41 in Ft. Myers. Here, a tomato
picker who has grown old before his time picking at the
same piece rate for over twenty years howls his lament about
sub-poverty wages in the fields.
He was joined on this night by a gang
of ghouls and goblins hellbent on awakening the Ft. Myers
fast-food zombies that roll into Taco Bell without so much
as a moment's thought given to the human misery wrapped
inside every chalupa.
Of course, Death couldn't stay away from
his favorite fast-food joint, protest or no protest. And
he couldn't keep his icy cold hands off Lady Liberty, either.
"If she does not step off Taco Bell property right
now, Liberty must die!" he moaned menacingly.
Here we see Death in a more lighthearted
moment, catching up with his old friend, the Marlboro Man.
The stories these two could tell! Like Michael Jordan and
Scottie Pippen, or Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger for
you non-sports buffs, these two have set the standard for
teamwork for years...
Of course, teamwork only goes so far
when the Marlboro Man gets pulled away by this pretty lil'
Mariachi...
And speaking of attractive couples, this
pair certainly set tongues wagging Halloween night!
But let's turn the page for a moment
to those for whom Halloween fun is truly meant... and this
is not an optical illusion! This beautiful young lady barely
reaches the nose on one of the biggest, most evil looking
tomatoes Ft. Myers has ever seen.
And here...Oh, why can't we even have
a few moments of innocent fun? Just as the kids were getting
their time on the site, this guy has to stick his nose into
the picture. Hey wait, who is that? Why it's Resident Bush,
joining the protest all the way from Washington, DC!! And
what's that sign he prepared specially himself for the event?
"What's good for farmworkers is good for America"?!
He doesn't really mean that. Some politicians will say anything
just to please the public. Good thing Lady Liberty is keeping
the children safe from this mendacious man.
Well, he can't be all that bad... here
he's trying to help convince a particularly nettlesome police
officer that this is indeed a patriotic protest. Either
that or he just doesn't even know what his own sign says
(a far more likely explanation...).
***
...We interrupt this report to apologize for the partisan
and, frankly, disappointingly meanspirited tone that this
website has taken in the past two frames. We have corrected
the problem and return you to a more appropriately crafted
report. Thank you for your patience -- Your Office
of Homeland Security at work... ***
Here we see some more darling children
join the fun!
No really, these kids were on their regular
trick or treat route and passed by the protest. When they
heard the message they stopped collecting candy and started
dispensing wisdom to Taco Bell consumers about the injustice
in Southwest Florida's tomato fields. If only Florida's
adults always had such good hearts and open minds...
OK, two last shots -- one obligatory
scary photo... yeah, Death... Taco Bell... whatever... It's
a great photo, so we had to include it, but you probably
get the point already...
... and one unbearably cute photo of
the kids that joined us for a Halloween they will undoubtedly
remember for years to come!