Taco Bell Truth Tour Coming to the Bay Area!

WHAT: MEET WITH THE COALITION OF IMMOKALEE WORKERS TO BUILD FOR THE NEXT STEP IN TACO BELL CAMPAIGN FOR JUSTICE FOR FARMWORKERS!
HELP MOBILIZE THE BAY AREA-- WE WILL PLAN A TACO BELL ACTION AND PUBLIC EVENT WHEN THE CIW TOUR COMES TO THE BAY AREA ON FEB 25 AND LINK IT TO CAFTA, the FTAA AND WTO.

WHEN: THURSDAY JAN 30, 7PM

WHERE: CISPES office - 3382 26th St. (btwn Mission and Capp) SF

MORE INFO:
Melanie, CISPES 415 648-8222
David Solnit, Action for Local Global Justice 510 601-8116

Dear Social Justice Activists,

In February 2003, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and the Student/Farmworker Alliance (SFA) will be touring California, speaking with students, youth, community, labor, faith and global justice groups
about the struggle to end the sweatshops of the fields of Florida through the national boycott of Taco Bell. CIW organizers will come through the bay area January 30, to build Bay Area support for the fast that will take place
in front of Taco Bell headquarters in Irvine, CA Feb. 24-28, 2003. Members of the CIW and their student, community, faith-based and worker allies will
be fasting in order to bring attention to the need for the fast-food giant to take responsibility for the sweatshop working conditions where its tomatoes are produced.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is one of the most vibrant organizations
in the US movement for social and economic justice. Lead by farmworkers,
the CIW is and making links between local and global justice struggles and
as they talk about their experiences with sweatshops in the fields they've
educated people across the country about NAFTA, the FTAA, and the WTO.

Farmworkers are among the poorest, most vulnerable and exploited class of
laborers in the country. Indeed, agricultural labor relations have changed
relatively little over the past century. From slavery to the sweatshops of
the fields today, the agricultural industry has had a powerful voice in
politics, decidedly biasing labor relations in the favor of corporate
agriculture. More recently, free trade policies have displaced thousands of
small family farmers in Mexico and Central America, leading to an influx of
economically desperate immigrant workers forced to compete for the lowest
wages and the worst working conditions. On the other end of the production
cycle, the corporate food industry (grocery and fast food conglomerates),
has created a demand for an enormous supply of produce at the cheapest
possible price, allowing for more resources to go towards advertising and
branding. In essence, the modern corporate food industry has been created
on the backs on peasants from third world economies forced to migrate
because of the displacing effects of free trade.

The CIW is challenging this paradigm by making the links between the
exploitation of farmworkers, the profits of the fast-food industry and the
impacts of "free" trade. In April 2001, the CIW called for a national
boycott of Taco Bell for Taco Bell's role in maintaining the poor wages and
working conditions for the thousands of workers who cultivate their
tomatoes. In February 2003, the CIW will bring this reality to national
attention through a week-long fast in front of Taco Bell headquarters in
Irvine, CA.

The CIW is a community-based farmworker organization located in Southwest
Florida made up primarily of Latino, Haitian and Mayan immigrants. The CIW
is dedicated to achieving: fair wages, more respect from growers, stronger
laws and enforcement against those who violate workers' rights, the right to
organize without fear of retaliation, and an end to indentured servitude in
the fields. The CIW has been recognized nationally and internationally for
its organizing around both the Taco Bell Boycott and work to end modern-day
slavery in the fields. In November 2002, the CIW helped bring to justice a
slavery ring in South Florida, freeing over 700 migrant workers.

Please join us on Jan 30th!