Contact:
Lucas Benitez, CIW/239-503-0133
Julia Perkins, CIW/239-986-0891
Laurie Schalow, Taco Bell Corp.
949-863-3915 or onsite at 949-637-1153
CIW to end Taco Bell boycott; Taco
Bell to pay penny-per-pound surcharge demanded by
workers, will work with CIW to raise farm labor
standards in supply chain, across industry as a
whole
March 8, 2005 (IMMOKALEE/LOUISVILLE)
– In a precedent-setting move, fast-food industry
leader Taco Bell Corp., a division of Yum! Brands
(NYSE: YUM), has agreed to work with the Florida-based
farm worker organization, the Coalition of Immokalee
Workers (CIW), to address the wages and working
conditions of farmworkers in the Florida tomato
industry.
Taco Bell announced today that it
will fund a penny per pound “pass-through”
with its suppliers of Florida tomatoes, and will
undertake joint efforts with the CIW on several
fronts to improve working conditions in Florida’s
tomato fields. For its part, the CIW has agreed
to end its three-year boycott of Taco Bell, saying
that the agreement “sets a new standard of
social responsibility for the fast-food industry.”
“As an industry leader, we
are pleased to lend our support to and work with
the CIW to improve working and pay conditions for
farmworkers in the Florida tomato fields,”
said Emil Brolick, Taco Bell president. “We
recognize that Florida tomato workers do not enjoy
the same rights and conditions as employees in other
industries, and there is a need for reform. We have
indicated that any solution must be industry-wide,
as our company simply does not have the clout alone
to solve the issues raised by the CIW, but we are
willing to play a leadership role within our industry
to be part of the solution,” Brolick added.
Taco Bell has recently secured an
agreement with several of its tomato-grower suppliers,
who employ the farmworkers, to pass-through the
company-funded equivalent of one-cent per pound
directly to the workers.
“With this agreement, we will
be the first in our industry to directly help improve
farmworkers’ wages,” added Brolick,
“And we pledge to make this commitment real
by buying only from Florida growers who pass this
penny per pound payment entirely on to the farmworkers,
and by working jointly with the CIW and our suppliers
to monitor the pass-through for compliance. We hope
others in the restaurant industry and supermarket
retail trade will follow our leadership.”
Yum! Brands and Taco Bell will also work with the
CIW to help ensure that Florida tomato pickers enjoy
working terms and conditions similar to those that
workers in other industries enjoy. CIW/Taco Bell
Resolution Page 2
“We are challenging our tomato suppliers to
meet those higher standards and will seek to do
business with those who do,” said Jonathan
Blum, senior vice president, Yum! Brands. “We
have already added language to our Supplier Code
of Conduct to ensure that indentured servitude by
suppliers is strictly forbidden, and we will require
strict compliance with all existing laws. Finally,
we pledge to aid in efforts at the state level to
seek new laws that better protect all Florida tomato
farmworkers,” added Blum.
The Company indicated that it believes
other restaurant chains and supermarkets, along
with the Florida Tomato Committee, should join in
seeking legislative reform, because “human
rights are universal and we hope others will follow
our company’s lead.”
“This is an important victory
for farmworkers, one that establishes a new standard
of social responsibility for the fast-food industry
and makes an immediate material change in the lives
of workers. This sends a clear challenge to other
industry leaders,” said Lucas Benitez, a leader
of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.
“Systemic change to ensure
human rights for farmworkers is long-overdue. Taco
Bell has now taken an important leadership role
by securing the penny per pound pass-through from
its tomato suppliers, and by the other efforts it
has committed to undertake to help win equal rights
for farmworkers,” Benitez added. “We
now call on the National Council of Churches, Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.), Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center
for Human Rights and other organizations to join
the CIW and end their boycott of Taco Bell, and
to recognize the Company by supporting its ongoing
leadership in our fight against human rights abuses.
But our work together is not done. Now we must convince
other companies that they have the power to change
the way they do business and the way workers are
treated.”
Representatives from the Carter Center
assisted the discussions and resolution between
the two organizations. “I commend the Coalition
of Immokalee Workers for their principled leadership
in this very important campaign. I am pleased Taco
Bell has taken a leadership role to help reform
working conditions for Florida farmworkers and has
committed to use its power to effect positive human
rights change. I now call on others in the industry
to follow Taco Bell’s lead to help the tomato
farmworkers,” said former President Jimmy
Carter.
Taco Bell Corp., based in Irvine,
California, is a subsidiary of Yum! Brands, Inc.
and the nation’s leading Mexican-style quick
service restaurant chain serving tacos, burritos,
signature Quesadillas, Border Bowls®, nachos
and other specialty items. In 2004, Taco Bell purchased
approximately 10 million pounds of Florida tomatoes,
representing less than one percent of Florida’s
tomato production. Taco Bell serves more than 35
million consumers each week in more than 6,500 restaurants
in the U.S.
CIW is a membership-led organization
of agricultural workers based in Immokalee, Florida,
that seeks justice for farmworkers and promotes
their fair treatment in accordance with national
and international labor standards. Among its accomplishments,
the CIW has aided in the prosecution of five slavery
operations by the Department of Justice and the
liberation of over 1,000 workers. The CIW uses creative
methods to educate consumers about human rights
abuses in the U.S. agriculture industry, corporate
social responsibility, and how consumers can help
workers realize their social change goals.
##END##
For more details on the agreement
and an analysis of its impact,
click here!
