[Seac] CIW victory with Taco Bell

[Benjamin Farrell <farreb25@uwosh.edu>]

COALITION OF IMMOKALEE WORKERS, TACO BELL® REACH GROUNDBREAKING AGREEMENT 

CIW to end Taco Bell boycott; Taco Bell to pay penny-per-pound surcharge 
demanded by workers, will work with CIW to raise farm labor standards in 
supply chain, across industry as a whole 

March 8, 2005 (IMMOKALEE/LOUISVILLE) – In a precedent-setting move, 
fast-food industry leader Taco Bell Corp., a division of Yum! Brands 
(NYSE: YUM), has agreed to work with the Florida-based farm worker 
organization, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), to address the 
wages and working conditions of farmworkers in the Florida tomato industry. 

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.” 

“As an industry leader, we are pleased to lend our support to and work 
with the CIW to improve working and pay conditions for farmworkers in 
the Florida tomato fields,” said Emil Brolick, Taco Bell president. “We 
recognize that Florida tomato workers do not enjoy the same rights and 
conditions as employees in other industries, and there is a need for 
reform. We have indicated that any solution must be industry-wide, as 
our company simply does not have the clout alone to solve the issues 
raised by the CIW, but we are willing to play a leadership role within 
our industry to be part of the solution,” Brolick added. 

Taco Bell has recently secured an agreement with several of its 
tomato-grower suppliers, who employ the farmworkers, to pass-through the 
company-funded equivalent of one-cent per pound directly to the workers. 

“With this agreement, we will be the first in our industry to directly 
help improve farmworkers’ wages,” added Brolick, “And we pledge to make 
this commitment real by buying only from Florida growers who pass this 
penny per pound payment entirely on to the farmworkers, and by working 
jointly with the CIW and our suppliers to monitor the pass-through for 
compliance. We hope others in the restaurant industry and supermarket 
retail trade will follow our leadership.” Yum! Brands and Taco Bell will 
also work with the CIW to help ensure that Florida tomato pickers enjoy 
working terms and conditions similar to those that workers in other 
industries enjoy. CIW/Taco Bell Resolution Page 2 

“We are challenging our tomato suppliers to meet those higher standards 
and will seek to do business with those who do,” said Jonathan Blum, 
senior vice president, Yum! Brands. “We have already added language to 
our Supplier Code of Conduct to ensure that indentured servitude by 
suppliers is strictly forbidden, and we will require strict compliance 
with all existing laws. Finally, we pledge to aid in efforts at the 
state level to seek new laws that better protect all Florida tomato 
farmworkers,” added Blum. 

The Company indicated that it believes other restaurant chains and 
supermarkets, along with the Florida Tomato Committee, should join in 
seeking legislative reform, because “human rights are universal and we 
hope others will follow our company’s lead.” 

“This is an important victory for farmworkers, one that establishes a 
new standard of social responsibility for the fast-food industry and 
makes an immediate material change in the lives of workers. This sends a 
clear challenge to other industry leaders,” said Lucas Benitez, a leader 
of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. 

“Systemic change to ensure human rights for farmworkers is long-overdue. 
Taco Bell has now taken an important leadership role by securing the 
penny per pound pass-through from its tomato suppliers, and by the other 
efforts it has committed to undertake to help win equal rights for 
farmworkers,” Benitez added. “We now call on the National Council of 
Churches, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Robert F. Kennedy Memorial 
Center for Human Rights and other organizations to join the CIW and end 
their boycott of Taco Bell, and to recognize the Company by supporting 
its ongoing leadership in our fight against human rights abuses. But our 
work together is not done. Now we must convince other companies that 
they have the power to change the way they do business and the way 
workers are treated.” 

Representatives from the Carter Center assisted the discussions and 
resolution between the two organizations. “I commend the Coalition of 
Immokalee Workers for their principled leadership in this very important 
campaign. I am pleased Taco Bell has taken a leadership role to help 
reform working conditions for Florida farmworkers and has committed to 
use its power to effect positive human rights change. I now call on 
others in the industry to follow Taco Bell’s lead to help the tomato 
farmworkers,” said former President Jimmy Carter. 

Taco Bell Corp., based in Irvine, California, is a subsidiary of Yum! 
Brands, Inc. and the nation’s leading Mexican-style quick service 
restaurant chain serving tacos, burritos, signature Quesadillas, Border 
Bowls®, nachos and other specialty items. In 2004, Taco Bell purchased 
approximately 10 million pounds of Florida tomatoes, representing less 
than one percent of Florida’s tomato production. Taco Bell serves more 
than 35 million consumers each week in more than 6,500 restaurants in 
the U.S. 

CIW is a membership-led organization of agricultural workers based in 
Immokalee, Florida, that seeks justice for farmworkers and promotes 
their fair treatment in accordance with national and international labor 
standards. Among its accomplishments, the CIW has aided in the 
prosecution of five slavery operations by the Department of Justice and 
the liberation of over 1,000 workers. The CIW uses creative methods to 
educate consumers about human rights abuses in the U.S. agriculture 
industry, corporate social responsibility, and how consumers can help 
workers realize their social change goals.