Taco Bell Tomatoes, Slave-Free At Last

[Kire]

Taco Bell Accord Reached!

Dear Friends,

After reading this update, be sure to:

sign our anti-slavery petition
read about Steven’s experiences with CIW
I have very exciting news to share with you: we are now one step closer to eliminating slavery from the production of foods we eat!

In a document signed Tuesday, Yum! Brands and its subsidiary Taco Bell have agreed to take measures to ensure that farmworkers in their supply chain receive better wages and to enforce a code of conduct to ensure that no slavery or worker exploitation is involved in the production of tomatoes supplied to Taco Bell.

This historic agreement is a direct result of negotiations between the fast food giant and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), a Florida-based farmworker organization, which has for years sought to eliminate slave-labor in the tomato fields of southern Florida.

“The accord between Taco Bell, Yum! Brands, and the Coalition of Immokalee Workers sets a precedent for how fast food restaurant companies and retailers do business with their suppliers, and in turn, how workers are treated,” said Steven Lize, Free the Slaves research associate and current interim director of CIW.

“This proves businesses can come together with non-governmental organizations to collaborate in finding solutions to the problems of slavery and worker exploitation in agriculture,” said Jolene Smith, Executive Director of Free the Slaves. “We commend the Coalition of Immokalee Workers for their success in encouraging, and convincing, Taco Bell and Yum! Brands to step up to the challenge and become leaders of ethical business practices in the fast food industry.”

Yesterday’s success was among the first of many in the anti-slavery movement’s efforts to eliminate slavery from the goods we purchase. In the coming months, we are looking forward to having even more good news about our work in the realm of slave-free trade.

Thank you all for your continued support. It was the concern of consumers like you that helped produce yesterday’s historic triumph, and we at Free the Slaves are proud to have you as allies in the modern anti-slavery movement.

Most sincerely,

Jacob Patton
Director of Outreach and Technology
Free the Slaves

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[thegreatwildebeest]

1. Hopefully...

Hopefully this sort of pressure will result in such measures being taken at other fast food joints, as well as super markets and big box stores. Agricultural workers are basically the untouchable caste of American society and have been as much for more than 60+ years. Everyone should email or write their congressman to support the AgJOBS bill (s. 359 and H.R. 884) which, while not anywhere near being comprehensive immigration reform, is a step in the right direction, and would allow for the earned legalization of up to 500,000 undocumented migrant workers. On a local level, if you live in Oregon or Florida, write your people in your district about implementing tougher laws on farm labor contractors, as well as instituting a Agricultural Labor Relations Board, to correct the federal oversight of no union representation, organizing, or collective bargaining.