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PRESS: On this page you will find all the news fit to print on the hunger strike. As reports come out both before and during the action, we will post them here.
Here's the latest news!... Click on the link below for a great wrap-up story from the Naples Daily News by Michael Peltier:
Day
10: The Hunger Strike Ends... All the stories from
the wire services, LA Times, and more!
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Reuters
Wire Story:
AP Wire Story:
- In
CBS.com (also in New York Newsday, Seattle
Post- Intelligencer, and more)
Irvine
World News
LA
Times |
More
Stories on the Hunger Strike... More great reports
and analysis from the fast! |
- Indymedia
Global (February features, scroll down -- also stories
can be found in Atlanta, Philadelphia, Ontario Canada, Los
Angeles and Milwaukee indymedia sites)
- "Taco
Bell Addendum" (Naples Daily News piece comparing
YUM's differing stands on animal welfare and farmworker
rights in its supply chain - scroll to second half of article)
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Religious
Press... A collection of excellent stories from the
nation's religious news media! |
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Student Stories... Press
from the solidarity actions at universities around the country!
West Virginia |
Ithaca, NY |
Tucson, AZ |
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2/28 - Coverage
of the massive convergence at Taco Bell Headquarters...
Click here for stories from this historic day! |
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2/25
- The Hunger Strike Begins, Ivine, California...
Check out the stories from across the country and Guatemala! |
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2/20 - Leaving Immokalee... |
Palm
Beach Post article on the hunger strikers' departure |
And in pre-hunger strike news:
* "Taco Bell tomato pickers protest 'sweatshop'" The Capital Times, Madison, WI (2/11/03)
* "US Yum! Brands shareholders take up farm workers' struggle for better wages" (1/13/03)
And check out this great OP/ED piece submitted to the Louisville "Courier Journal" by Stephen Bartlett -- a small farmer from Kentucky who will be joining us on the hunger strike! -- of Agricultural Missions. As he writes:
"I count as natural allies of farm workers all small farmers in the U.S., the value of whose labor has gradually been lowered to that of the farm worker, because small farmers now compete with the exploited laborers of agribusiness in a race to the bottom." read more!
And the first story on the hunger strike... (January 08, 2003):
"Yum! Brands' Taco Bell targeted for hunger strike by US tomato pickers"
WASHINGTON
(AFX-GEM) - US tomato pickers at a Taco Bell Corp supplier in Florida
plan to go on hunger strike in front of the fast food chain's California
headquarters in hopes it will put pressure on their employer to
raise wages they say have stagnated since 1979.
The February 24-28 hunger strike will culminate in a rally at Taco
Bell's Irvine, California head office, said the Coalition of Immokalee
Workers, anassociation of 2,000-plus tomato pickers in Immokalee,
Florida.
The coalition launched in April 2001 a nationwide boycott of Taco
Bell, a major buyer of tomatoes from the Immokalee region which
is said to be among the largest and poorest farming areas in the
US.
Workers said they targeted Taco Bell after failing to sway their
employer, Six L's Packing Co Inc, with direct pressure.
"After years of protests, a 30-day hunger strike in 1995, and
many 200-300-mile marches, we realized that the growers just didn't
have the public profile and sensitivity to consumer opinion to be
moved," said Max Perez, a coalition organizer.
"And we realized where our tomatoes were going," he added,
referring to Taco Bell. "If we bring Taco Bell to the table,
then we can say to others that they, too, should recognize their
responsibility to the people who pick the tomatoes they use in their
products," said Perez.
A Taco Bell spokeswoman said the company, fearing harm to its reputation
among consumers, had asked Six L's to settle the dispute in early
2002 and would not intervene further.
The planned hunger strike adds to a raft of troubles confronting
Taco Bell's parent, Yum! Brands Inc. This
week, its Kentucky Fried Chicken chain became the target of an international
animal-rights protest campaign and, separately, was forced to close
a branch in China amid local sentiment that it despoiled a historic
site.
The largely immigrant workers, saying their wages have stuck at
about 7,500 usd per year since 1979, want Six L's customers to pay
one cent more per pound of tomatoes and to insist that the money
be used for pay raises, and to press the company to improve work
conditions.
They took those demands to Taco Bell executives late last year as
part of a nationwide tour to drum up support for the boycott. Both
sides described the talks as cordial but inconclusive.
Earlier in the year, Taco Bell had written and spoken to Six L's
officials. "We asked them to resolve the dispute because it
was affecting our brand name," said Laurie Gannon. "They
listened and reminded us that we don't have a contract with them
and that ultimately, it was their decision," she added.
Staff at Six L's referred all questions to CEO Larry Lipman, who
could not be reached for comment Tuesday and Wednesday.
The company also operates tomato farms and packing and shipping
facilities in Georgia, South Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania and
Virginia. Florida supplies 45 percent of all tomatoes consumed in
the US, according to the business group Florida Tomato Council.
abid.aslam@afxnews.com aa/mlo
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