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Important New Action Alert!
Contact McDonald's, Burger King, and Subway today to ask that they follow
Taco Bell's lead, meet with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers
(CIW), and help end human rights abuses in their supply chain!
The United Methodist Church, in the 2004 General Conference, adopted the resolution
to boycott Taco Bell for fair wages and working condition of tomato pickers. United
Methodist Women participated in action to bring about a peaceful settlement
to the boycott in March, 2005
The victory in the Taco Bell Boycott established several key new principles
that, taken together, represent a significant step toward social responsibility
in the fast-food industry.
But Taco Bell is only one major buyer among many, and the impact of its commitment
to those new principles will fall only on those workers who pick tomatoes for
Taco Bell.
On March 8th, at the press conference that ended the Taco Bell Boycott, CIW
member and 2003 RFK Human Rights Award Laureate Lucas Benitez addressed the
vast network of boycott allies directly, saying, "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." He continued:
"The real significance of this agreement lies in the promise it
holds for much greater change in the future…Human rights are universal,
and if we as farmworkers are to one day indeed enjoy equal rights, the same
rights all other workers in this country are guaranteed, this agreement must
only be a beginning. To make those rights truly universal, other leaders
of the fast-food industry and the supermarket industry must join us on this
path toward social responsibility. With a broad coalition of industry leaders
committed to these principles, we can finally dream of a day when Florida's
farmworkers will enjoy the kind of wages and working conditions we deserve.
And when that day comes, the restaurants and markets of this country will
truly be able to stand behind their food, from the fields to America's tables."
You can help hasten the day when all Florida farmworkers enjoy the same fundamental
rights to a decent wage and fair working conditions.
Write to McDonald's, Burger King, or Subway and urge them to commit
their companies and their market power to making real the principles established
in the Taco Bell agreement. See attached sample
letter for the three companies.
For more information, go to http://www.ciw-online.org/news.html and http://www.nfwm.org,
or contact the Office of Community Action, Women's Division, 212-870-3766, SLee@gbgm-umc.org
Date posted:
Jun 13, 2005
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