3/8: Taco Bell announced today that it will fund a penny per pound "pass-through" with its suppliers of Florida tomatoes, and will undertake joint efforts with the CIW on several fronts to improve working conditions in Florida's tomato fields. For its part, the CIW has agreed to end its three-year boycott of Taco Bell, saying that the agreement "sets a new standard of social responsibility for the fast-food industry." Read more

The 2005 Taco Bell Truth Tour kicked off from Immokalee, Florida on February 28 and headed two different directions en route to Louisville, Kentucky--home of Yum! Brands corporate headquarters. Yum! is the parent company to Taco Bell which is itself one of the most profitable fast food chains in the world. Tomato pickers in Florida, organizing for better working conditions and wages for over a decade, have called a boycott against Taco Bell.

Most tomato pickers in Florida are migrant workers and are vulnerable to exploitation. Aside from fighting for an increase in wages which have stagnated for over 25 years, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers have helped to uncover multiple cases of modern day slavery.

Read More on Indybay's Labor Page