Bay Area Bus to 3/4 Farmworker Rally Still Has Spaces

The Bay Area CIW Solidarity Bus still has a few spaces! (CIW--the Coaltion
of Imokalee Workers worked closely with DASW activists in Miami at the FTAA
protests)
Join the Bay Area delegation to the culminating rally of the Taco Bell Truth
Tour/Farmworker Freedom march on Taco Bells World Headquarters in Irvine.
Join Dolores Huerta, Boots from the Coup, Tom from Rage Against the Machine,
Lial Downs--the singer from the film Frida 100 farmworkers from Florida and
grassroots activists from across the US.

BUS LEAVES: Thursday march 4, 11pm from SF/12 Midnight from East Bay
RETURNS: Around 11pm Frinday march 5 to East Bay and SF Bart Stations
COST: $25 round trip (but come even if you can't afford it--no one turned
away for lack of funds)
BUS: Get on the Schools for Chiapas bus that escorted the Zapatistas to
Mexico City!

Dear friend:

Join other Bay Area activists on March 2-5, 2004 as the Coalition of
Immokalee Workers (CIW) leads the Taco Bell Truth Tour, a 40-Mile March for
Farmworker Justice from East L.A. to Irvine, CA. The march will take the
boycott to the streets of Southern California, culminating in a massive
rally at the Taco Bell headquarters on March 5th.

Immokalee is Florida¹s largest farmworker community, and Taco Bell is one of
the largest buyers of Florida tomatoes. Since 1978, growers have paid the
same piece rate‹40 cents per bucket‹meaning workers must pick and haul two
tons of tomatoes to earn just $50 a day. Farmworkers are demanding a penny
or two more per pound to significantly improve their annual incomes of
$7,500. Workers are denied the right to organize, overtime pay, health
insurance, sick leave, paid holidays, vacation, or pensions.

In 2000, CIW made Taco Bell aware of these sweatshop conditions, but they
did not respond. A year later the CIW launched a national boycott of Taco
Bell, demanding that the multi-million dollar corporation recognize its role
in exploiting farmworkers and address the human rights violations in its
supply chain.

Since then, the Taco Bell Boycott has become one of the fastest growing
movements for social justice in the country. The CIW have received national
recognition for their work drawing the links between corporate profits and
farmworker poverty. In 2002, a caravan of workers crossed the country in
the first Taco Bell Truth Tour, culminating in a massive march and rally at
Taco Bell headquarters. Last year, 75 workers and allies held an
unprecedented 10-day hunger strike outside Taco Bell's headquarters. This
past November, three CIW members received the 2003 Robert F. Kennedy Human
Rights Award for their work fighting modern-day slavery.

The Bay Area Solidarity Committee will be coordinating carpools for folks
wanting to join the three-day march and a bus to join the farmworkers on the
last stretch towards the culminating rally. The bus will leave the evening
of Thursday, March 4th and return by midnight on March 5th. The suggested
donation is $25 per person for the roundtrip bus ride, although no one will
be turned away for lack of funds.

For more information, call Jessica Marquez of the Mexico Solidarity Network
at 415/621-8100 or email us at ciw-bayarea-support [at] riseup.net or visit the
Food First website http://www.foodfirst.org/ciw.

In solidarity,

The Bay Area Solidarity Committee
Art and Revolution, Food First, Greenaction, Mexico Solidarity Network, SEIU
790