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Back to Hunger Strike Home Page

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!

 

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)
Religious Press... A collection of excellent stories from the nation's religious news media!

Student Stories... Press from the solidarity actions at universities around the country!


West Virginia

Ithaca, NY

Tucson, AZ

2/28 - Coverage of the massive convergence at Taco Bell Headquarters...

Click here for stories from this historic day!

2/25 - The Hunger Strike Begins, Ivine, California...

Check out the stories from across the country and Guatemala!

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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