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Give the boot to Taco Bell
Posted September 20, 2002 In this Alert:1. End Sweatshops in the Fields – Boot Taco
Bell from your campus!
[For more information on the Taco Bell boycott, visit www.ciw-online.org, for more on the student arm of the boycott, “Boot the Bell,” email sfw_alliance@hotmail.com] <><><><><>
END SWEATSHOPS IN THE FIELDS -- BOOT TACO BELL FROM YOUR CAMPUS!
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a farmworker organization based in Immokalee, FL, has asked to meet with Taco Bell representatives to discuss the inhumane working and living conditions of the farmworkers who pick Taco Bell's tomatoes. Taco Bell has refused to open meaningful dialogue with the workers. Therefore, the CIW and their student allies have called for a national boycott of Taco Bell. In solidarity with the boycott, the Student / Farmworker Alliance (SFA) launched the "Boot the Bell" campaign, aimed at booting Taco Bell products and franchises out of our universities and high schools.
** The Focus is on ARAMARK. Aramark runs food services on hundreds of university campuses around the nation. Aramark contracts with Taco Bell to have Taco Bell restaurants and/or sell its products on many of those campuses. The CIW has written Aramark asking that the company honor the Taco Bell Boycott by removing all Taco Bell restaurants and products from their campuses. So far, Aramark has refused to get involved. Now it's time to turn up the heat!
** What can STUDENTS Do? The Student/Farmworker Alliance has written a letter to Aramark asking the company to end its contract with Taco Bell. This letter is being circulated and signed by student, faculty, and staff organizations at Aramark colleges and universities. If your college or university has a contract with Aramark, print a copy of the letter included below, gather signatures from student/faculty organizations that wish to endorse the letter and send a list of endorsing organizations to SFA at sfw_alliance@hotmail.com. The CIW and SFA will be sending the letter to Aramark with the names of all the organizations that have formally endorsed the letter on October 7, so please send a list of all endorsing organizations before that day. Back to top <><><><><>
October 7, 2002 ARAMARK Corporation Dear Mr. Orobono, We, the undersigned, students and faculty representing Aramark campuses around the country, are writing in support of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), which has called for a national boycott of Taco Bell. We are aware that both the CIW and their student allies, represented by the Student Farmworker Alliance (SFA), have written you several letters requesting that Aramark cut its ties with Taco Bell until Taco Bell opens meaningful dialogue with the CIW. We write not to present more facts and figures about the living conditions tomato pickers confront. These facts and figures are meaningless in the face of the everyday humiliations they endure. Instead, we write to reemphasize that students will not tolerate their tuition money being used to support such violations of human rights. We insist that Aramark open meaningful dialogue with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to work out an agreement that is beneficial to both parties. We applaud your noble move in relation to the NORPAC campaign. In today's world of sweatshop labor, students are increasingly aware of the difficulties in finding a food service provider that is dedicated to treating workers justly. Students and their universities across the country are deeply concerned about this difficulty, and this is mirrored in the semester to semester changes in multi-million dollar contracts with food service providers. Your further support of workers' rights by honoring the CIW's call for a boycott of Taco Bell would distinguish Aramark as a viable option within this volatile marketplace, as students and universities strive to prevent their schools from supporting abusive labor and living conditions. We are sure you are aware of the "Boot the Bell" campaign that is rapidly picking up energy throughout the country. Last school year there were several successes: students at Duke University, West High School in CO & Sunflower Catholic School in FL organized to remove all Taco Bell products from their campuses; students at University of Notre Dame, UC Berkeley, and Milwaukee Area Technical College organized to keep Taco Bell off their campuses; University of California Student Association, which represents every university in the U of C system school, endorsed the boycott in the spring of 2001. As a result of this campaign, both Aramark and university administrations nationwide have experienced increasingly negative publicity. At the same time, we are sure that you are aware that Taco Bell has become a liability to Aramark as the least profitable vendor on campuses across the country, including the University of Chicago and UCLA. Students have been working tirelessly throughout the summer, so the "Boot the Bell" campaign will no doubt have even more steam this fall as students fight to have Taco Bells and Taco Bell products removed from their campuses. Already, student organizations including USAS, STARC, MEChA, Campus Greens, and youth organizations represented by the United Church of Christ and the Presbyterian Church, have adopted this campaign as one of the central focuses of the growing anti-sweatshop movement that began in the early 1990's. In addition, students are currently making plans for regional tours that will pass through many Aramark schools, several national days of action, and a large national action on the scale of the Taco Bell Truth Tour. The urgency of this campaign cannot be overemphasized. Farmworkers are entitled to a voice in creating the just and humane working conditions that every human being is entitled to. Until the workers' demands are met, we will go forward with their campaign to have Taco Bells removed from their campuses and end their universities' relationships with any other corporations that support sweatshop working conditions. Again, we call on you to honor the Taco Bell Boycott by ending your business relationship with Taco Bell. Not only would this be a boon to the workers, but it would send a clear signal throughout the nationwide university community that Aramark is willing to stand up for workers' rights. In a market where universities decide year by year and semester by semester which food service provider to choose, this would be in Aramark's best interests. We look forward to your prompt response. Sincerely, [Student, Faculty, and Staff Organizations…]
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There are three exciting events happening this fall as a part of the Boot the Bell campaign – find details below on the upcoming Northeast Justice Tour, Four Days of “Spooky” Action, and Thanksgiving in Immokalee.
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Northeast Justice Tour: ~Sept. 27-30, Washington, DC ** IMF/World Bank Protests ~ Oct. 1-3, New York City, NY ~ Oct. 4, Hartford, CT ~ Oct. 4-6, Philadelphia ~ Oct. 7 – University of Delaware ~ Oct. 8 – Philadelphia (again) ** Food Politics Event with Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation.” ** Deliver Boot the Bell letter to Aramark headquarters. ~ Oct. 9 – Northampton and Boston MA ** Howard Zinn and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers speaking event ~ Oct. 10 – Providence, RI ~ Oct. 11 – Boston, MA (again)
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Four Days of “Spooky” Action: On October 31-November 4, students across the country will engage in four days of actions against Taco Bell. These actions will happen simultaneous to the Free Trade Area of the Americas ministerial meeting in Quito, Ecuador, because what could be scarier than Free Trade and worker exploitation? These actions will demonstrate: ~ The growing strength of the Boot the Bell campaign. ~ The clear links between Free Trade and U.S. farmworker exploitation. ~ Our solidarity with the all the people of the Americas as we struggle to stop the FTAA
Watch out for vampire tomatoes and killer Chihuahuas!
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Thanksgiving in Immokalee: This Thanksgiving celebrate the harvest by strategizing with farmworkers in Immokalee, FL, the heart of the national Taco Bell Boycott!!
While the rest of the United States enjoys the bounty of the country's harvest, farmworkers from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers will gather with student allies from across the country in a weekend of reflection/action in the Taco Bell Boycott. Join us from Wednesday, November 27 to Sunday, December 1, 2002 to network with students/youth from across the country that are in the process of BOOTING the BELL from their campuses and hitting Taco Bell where it hurts with other ongoing, creative campaigns.
The four-day gathering includes: An opportunity to work in the fields, an in-depth tour of Immokalee, the heart of Florida's migrant farmworking community and home of the national Taco Bell Boycott headquarters, an anti-slavery workshop on the CIW's work towards ending modern-day slavery in the fields, a lively protest at a nearby Taco Bell in Ft. Myers, a day-long strategy session with members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to develop the strategy for the boycott in the Spring of 2003, a "round-table" discussion on the boycott and the broader global justice movement.
Scheduled events begin on Wednesday, November 27 at 7:30pm and end on Sunday, December 1 at noon. If you are a student and are interested in attending this event, email the Student / Farmworker Alliance at: fairfood@ciw-online.org.
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