Take charge of your taco
The Notre Dame Student/Farmworker Alliance
April 4, 2001
As human beings who support the rights of others, we have a responsibility to be moral consumers. As the recent campaign against sweatshops has shown, consumers can and should be concerned with what the money that they spend goes to support.
The recent campaign against Nike sweatshops has shown that student awareness and protests can put pressure on major corporations and cause a real change. In this spirit, the newly formed Notre Dame Student/Farmworker Alliance is calling on the Notre Dame family to help give voice to the voiceless. Migrant farmworkers provide us with our bounty of fruits and vegetables under deplorable conditions. Denied the right to a living wage, to any benefits, or to bargain collectively, these workers toil in a "sweatshop in the fields" right here in our own country. Through the application of pressure on a large buyer of Florida tomatoes, Taco Bell, the Student/Farmworker Alliance is hoping to bring about a fair wage and respect for farmworkers everywhere.
Taco Bell made $5 billion in 1999, while its parent company, Tricon, is the world's largest restaurant system with $22 billion in annual receipts. The average farmworker makes $7,500. Taco Bell deliberately targets college-aged students with its advertising, therefore our voice can become a powerful one for the rights of these workers. If Taco Bell was to pay only one cent more for each pound of tomatoes, they could more then double their pay of their pickers. Please join us in this campaign to restore dignity to workers everywhere. Let Taco Bell hear your voice. Demand dignity and a living wage for the workers upon whose backs they have become successful. Please write a letter to:
Emil J. Brolick, President and Chief Concept Officer
Taco Bell Corp.
17901 Von Karman
Irvine, California 92614
1-800- TACO BELL
Join us in protest at a local Taco Bell. Meet at Library Circle at 2 p.m. this Sunday, April 8 and publicly show your solidarity with farmworkers in their struggle for dialogue and a living wage.
The Notre Dame Student/Farmworker Alliance
April 4, 2001
All Viewpoint Stories for Thursday, April 5, 2001
