In his Viewpoint column “Demand change by closing Taco
Bell” (Nov. 18), James Moon made an important point about the
significance of students using their power to show opposition to
unfair labor practices. This is certainly the motivation behind the
Social Justice Alliance and Student-Worker Front campaign to remove
Taco Bell from the UCLA campus.
However, Moon only scratches the surface of a very deep, complex
conflict that has taken place on the tomato fields that may supply
Taco Bell. While he correctly cites the low wages that workers
receive, workers in some cases also experience conditions described
by John Shattuck, CEO of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation, as
“modern-day slavery practices.”
It is because of the severity of these conditions that the
student activist coalition has chosen Taco Bell and its suppliers
as the target for the campaign. We would like to take this
opportunity to clarify some of Moon’s points, and strengthen
his message to show even more support for the Associated Students
of UCLA’s termination of the Taco Bell contract.
Moon mentions the injustice in wages, and, indeed, it is
drastic. In 2001, Taco Bell grossed over $5 billion, and its parent
company, Yum! Brands, grossed over $22 billion. However, farm
laborer wages are at the same rate that they were in 1978 ““
piece rates for each 32-pound bucket of tomatoes have stagnated
between 40 and 50 cents. Despite these concerns, Yum! refuses to
negotiate with the farmworkers who are being exploited.
Because Taco Bell does not release the names of all its
suppliers, it is often impossible to attribute specific labor
violations to the tomatoes Taco Bell buys. But many farmworkers in
south Florida receive no benefits, are denied the right to
organize, and in some cases have been living in camp conditions
under constant, armed surveillance or held in sexual servitude and
threatened with death if they try to escape. These conditions
cannot be denied ““ they are documented by the U.S. Department
of Justice. In three separate cases, the Justice Department has
convicted defendants of crimes including “slavery and
immigration violations” in connection with tomato fields in
Immokalee, Fla. ““ the same region where Taco Bell is a major
buyer of tomatoes.
In one documented case of human trafficking, Attorney General
John Ashcroft ““ hardly a knee-jerk liberal ““ said of
19-year-old Maria Choz in a Jan. 24, 2002, press conference,
“By night, Maria was forced into sexual servitude. By day,
she was forced to labor with a tomato picking crew, giving her
wages to Tecum (her kidnapper) at the end of her grueling
shifts.”
He went on to say that “Maria’s story is not
unique.”
This is only one story in countless cases of worker exploitation
and wage disputes, including many accounts of poor labor practices
from fields where Taco Bell may receive its tomatoes.
As one of the major buyers of the tomatoes produced in Immokalee
by the Six L’s Packing Co., Taco Bell has a responsibility to
protect human rights in its suppliers’ fields. To ensure the
humane handling of animals, the company has implemented the Animal
Welfare Program, which regulates the conditions under which its
poultry is produced. Taco Bell has acknowledged that it has
responsibility for the actions of its suppliers. Its Web site
states that “as a major purchaser of food products, we have
the opportunity, and responsibility, to influence the way animals
are treated.” However, in response to the fair treatment of
humans, Yum! spokespersons have denied responsibility and refused
to address the issue of working conditions. Taco Bell cannot
continue to promote animal welfare while turning a blind eye to
human rights.
In response to this disregard for humanity, the Coalition of
Immokalee Workers launched a nationwide boycott against Taco Bell
in 2001. Since then, students across the nation have mobilized to
boot the Bell from their campuses and end the representation of
slavery. On our own campus, student activists from the Social
Justice Alliance and the Student-Worker Front have been working
with ASUCLA to push for the termination of the Taco Bell franchise
contract. On Nov. 14, the Services Committee of the ASUCLA board
voted to recommend that the board not renew the contract. With this
action, the committee showed that working conditions in the tomato
fields that supply Taco Bell will not be tolerated by franchises
like ASUCLA that have a commitment to social justice.
The Services Committee decision shows the power of students to
work through institutions like UCLA to combat exploitation. In the
past, we have demanded justice for employees on campus through
unionizing ASUCLA workers. Now, we can demand justice for workers
in Florida by joining the boycott, as have consumers and students
from across the country. When the full ASUCLA board meets Dec. 4,
it is imperative that it take the recommendation of the committee
and of the Undergraduate Students Association Council and agree not
to renew Taco Bell’s contract with UCLA.
Sarah Church is a fourth-year international development
studies student and Christina Kaoh is a second-year molecular,
cellular, and developmental biology student.