Organizers
of a protest estimated that 145 students went on hunger strikes
spring semester to call on Notre Dame to stop doing business with
Taco Bell.
The students, mostly
members of the Progressive Student Alliance, were supporting a
national boycott called by a farm workers group, the Coalition
of Immokalee Workers. The coalition says Taco Bell's tomato suppliers
pay unfair wages to migrant workers in Florida. It wants the restaurant
chain to pressure the suppliers to pay a living wage.
Notre Dame's only
connection with Taco Bell is via the athletic department. This
past year local Taco Bell franchises paid the University $50,000
for ads in game programs and spots during coaches' radio shows,
among other promotions. The parties were considering a $75,000
renewal for the coming academic year, but Notre Dame put off a
decision on the deal while it waited for a response from Taco
Bell's parent company in regard to the concerns raised by students.
After multiple inquiries
from Notre Dame officials, the parent company responded near the
end of the semester with a letter describing its policies in regard
to suppliers. After studying this response and sharing it with
members of the Progressive Student Alliance, University attorneys
decided to seek additional information from Taco Bell. The company
had not replied as of mid-May, a University spokesman said.
Earlier spring semester
a group of about 30 students arrived unannounced at the Main Building's
presidential office suite. They were hoping to get Father Malloy
to issue a statement against renewing the Taco Bell contract.
An assistant to the president explained that the administration
was still waiting for a response from the company.
Organizers of the
protest said participants pledged to go on hunger strikes in one-
to three-day increments. The effort first gained widespread attention
on campus in late March, when freshman Antonio Rivas went on a
week-long hunger strike to coincide with a National Student Week
of Action. Organizers later erected signs and strung banners across
the South Quad and distributed printed information to passers-by.
This prompted residents of one room in a male residence hall facing
the quad to hang a mocking banner out their window reading "I
Love Taco Bell."
The Progressive Student
Alliance has also called on Notre Dame to make Fair Trade Coffee,
which pays growers a living wage, available in the dining halls.
Food Services expects to make the coffee available starting this
fall.
(July 2004)
