Taco Bell Truth Tour - National Call-In Day to YUM! Brands – Monday, March 1st!

Only one week away!! And the Truth Tour leaves in 2 days!

Student Farmworker Alliance

http://w w w . s f a l l i a n c e . o r g

National Call-In Day to YUM! Brands – Monday, March 1st!

Make farmworkers' voices heard above the bottom line – on the phone lines!

As the Coalition of Immokalee Workers travels across the United States fighting for justice on the 2004 Taco Bell Truth Tour, student, community, religious, and labor allies around the country will participate in a National Call-In Day to make the farmworkers’ plight visible to Taco Bell’s parent company: YUM! Brands. JOIN US to demand fair food that respects HUMAN RIGHTS, not FAST FOOD that EXPLOITS HUMAN BEINGS.

On Monday, March 1st, Florida farmworkers will arrive in Los Angeles for a week of protest and Taco Bell executives begin yet another ordinary work week of profiteering off of the poverty of workers. But we've had enough of ordinary work weeks at YUM! Brands! This Monday, we demand that YUM! take responsibility for the suffering it profits from! We demand JUSTICE!

We demand that YUM! commit to protecting worker's rights just as it has stood up for animal rights – guarantee tomato pickers an improved wage and basic rights in a written contract between Taco Bell, tomato growers, and farmworkers! As farmworkers begin their 44-mile march to Taco Bell's headquarters in Irvine, students and allies will make our voices heard above the bottom line, taking to the phone lines in a NATIONAL CALL-IN DAY.

Here are some numbers to call and useful talking points – call early and often, and always be polite – YUM!'s switchboard operators are workers too!

* 888-2-YUM-YUM – YUM!'s toll-free investor relations line (we're all potential investors!)

* 502-874-8300 – YUM's general information switchboard – the Louisville HQ!

Talking points:

* Request an investor information packet! Tell them you're interested in the company – but of course, you're concerned about recent news about SLAVERY in their supply chain! Can YUM! guarantee that it doesn't use human slaves to produce its tomatoes?

* YUM! has committed to “working with our suppliers” to “make sure the most humane procedures” for animals are used – but it still buys tomatoes from growers who pay 40 cents a bucket – a piece rate that hasn't changed since 1978! Demand that YUM! commit to only dealing with suppliers that respect human rights and pay workers a living wage!

Students and community allies will organize dozens of Solidarity Actions during this week, spanning the range of possibilities for a broad-based people’s resistance, from small teach-ins and viewings of the Coalition’s Truth Tour DVD to large-scale demonstrations like Santa Cruz’s planned 300-person march on Friday, February 27th, all building to a monstrous rally at Taco Bell headquarters on Friday, March 5th featuring Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine, Boots Riley, and Dolores Huerta of the United Farm Workers!

Find updated information, including a full list of planned solidarity actions, at http://www.sfalliance.org.

Contact:

SFA Coordinator:
Brian Payne, 239-986-0688 cell

Traveling with Taco Bell Truth Tour February 25-March 10th:
SFA Volunteer Organizers:
Nick Laskowski, 408-375-0899 cell
Tiffany Ten Eyck 239-980-5771 cell

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Student Farmworker Alliance/Coalition of Immokalee Workers
239-657-8311
fairfood [at] ciw-online.org
http://www.sfalliance.org, http://www.ciw-online.org

Support tomato pickers - Boot the Bell!

Join us for the Taco Bell Truth Tour!
From Immokalee, FL to Louisville, KY, to Irvine, CA!
February 25 - March 5, 2004