JwJ News
MARCH 2005
- TACO BELL BOYCOTT OVER! Yum Brands Agrees to Pay a Penny More Per Pound of Tomatoes
- Student Labor Week of Action Begins March 31
- Act Now to Support Hunger Strike at Georgetown University!
- Anti-Sweatshop Victory at U. Buffalo
- Utah Phillips Performs at Benefit for Utah JwJ
- Workers and UVM students Rally for Good Jobs
- WA State WRB Releases Report on Outsourcing
- N. Texas JwJ Joins Delegations to Sky Chef, American Airlines
- Tell Congress to Sign the Pledge to Protect Social Security
- Health Care Action Man to the Rescue!
TACO BELL BOYCOTT OVER!
Yum Brands Agrees to Pay a Penny More Per Pound of Tomatoes
For four years the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), supported by student groups, Jobs with Justice local coalitions, and countless other religious and community organizations across the country, has been putting pressure on Taco Bell parent company Yum Brands to take a stand for workers' rights. On March 8th, Yum Brands, the largest restaurant company in the world, agreed to increase the amount it pays for tomatoes by a penny per pound, with the increase to go directly to workers' wages. Yum Brands has said it will also help the farmworkers' efforts to improve working and living conditions. This penny-per-pound increase will be the workers' first wage increase since 1978. This victory is proof that we have the power to hold multinational corporations accountable for the rights of workers - from the fields to the factory to the boardroom!
"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. 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 are willing to play a leadership role within our industry to be part of the solution," said Taco Bell President Emil Brolick. In addition to agreeing to the penny-per-pound increase, Yum Brands added language to its supplier code of conduct to ensure that indentured servitude by suppliers is prohibited. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers has helped federal authorities prosecute several farm bosses for holding workers as slaves in recent years.
The Taco Bell Boycott has gained considerable support over the last few years, with students at 21 colleges and universitys removing or blocking franchises on their campuses and active "Boot the Bell" campaigns in at least 300 colleges and 50 high schools. Chicago's Student Labor Action Project used the 2001 Student Labor Week of Action to kick-off their campaign which successfully removed Taco Bell from the University of Chicago's campus, and many other student groups across the country have used the Student Labor Week of Action as a vehicle to put pressure on Taco Bell to meet CIW's demands.
Jobs with Justice coalitions across the country have supported the boycott through actions at Taco Bell franchises and educational events with speakers from CIW, and CIW workers have spoken at the last two Jobs with Justice Annual Meetings. Immediately leading up to this victory, Jobs with Justice coalitions in Kentucky, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Columbus, Chicago, and Austin co-sponsored and mobilized for events during CIW's "Taco Bell Truth Tour". In Atlanta, JwJ helped to bring several groups to the table to organize a 2-day leg of the tour which included a film and discussion event at the Latin American Carribean Center, a tour of the MLK museum, presentations by the workers to three classes at Georgia State University (GSU), and a march from GSU to a downtown Taco Bell.
In Louisville, KY, where the tour was scheduled to end with a massive demonstration at Yum Headquarters, Kentucky JwJ has been organizing support for the tour for the last several months. JwJ helped to connect CIW with local faith, community, labor, and student leaders as well as media contacts, mobilized for several rallies and an educational forum, launched a fax campaign, held a Workers' Rights Board Hearing attended by 135 people as well as all 4 local news stations, and attended the press conference where CIW victory was annouced. With the victory, a KY WRB Hearing scheduled during the week of actions was re-framed as a victory celebration!
Act Now to Support Hunger Strike at Georgetown University!
As the Student Labor Week of Action fast approaches, the fight for workers' rights at Georgetown University is well underway. Despite years of work by workers, students, faculty, clergy, and community groups, Georgetown University, a Catholic & Jesuit institution, continues to refuse to implement a Living Wage Policy for directly hired and contracted employees. Since March 15th, over twenty students have been on a hunger strike and will remain without food until Georgetown agrees to a Living Wage Policy!
Send a letter to Georgetown University President John DeGoia today at:
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/GUlivingwage.
Student Labor Week of Action Begins March 31!
• Media Tools (sample press releases, talking points, etc.)
• Educational Materials (factsheets, discussion guides, etc.)
• Grid of Local Actions ( find an action near you)
• Sign up to participate in the Week of Action
• Organizing Kit for the Week of Action
Anti-Sweatshop Victory at U. Buffalo
For more than two years, students at the University of Buffalo (UB) have been pressing their administration to take a stand against sweatshop labor by affiliating with the Workers Rights Consortium (WRC), an organization which monitors the factories that produce college apparel to ensure that workers' rights are protected. That struggle finally came to a conclusion this month when Vice President Dennis Black announced that UB will answer the demands of students, community members, and Western New York Workers' Rights Board members by agreeing to affiliate with the WRC! Thanks to the tireless efforts of UB Students Against Sweatshops and the support they received from Buffalo Jobs with Justice and the WNY Workers' Rights Board, the administration of UB has come full circle from a policy that once stated "it's not our job to care about sweatshops" to the more recent "we are opposed to sweatshops and will do all we can to ensure our apparel is not produced under sweatshop conditions." This victory at UB shows the effectiveness of coalition building and the success that can be achieved when community, labor, religion, and youth unite under the single banner of respect for workers' rights.
Utah Phillips Performs at Benefit for Utah JwJ
The great labor folk singer, story teller, historian, Utah Phillips performed a benefit concert for Utah Jobs with Justice on Wednesday, February 16. The sold-out concert was organized by Duncan Phillips, Utah's son and Utah JwJ's fundraising chair. The name of the tour is 'Ship's Gonna Sail,' and Utah told hopeful stories, putting the present situation for working people into a broader historical context and encouraging everybody to keep fighting for social justice. The benefit raised $3,800 for Utah JwJ!
Workers and UVM students Rally for Good Jobs
On February 11th, over 200 building trades workers, University of Vermont (UVM) staff and faculty members, students, faith leaders, IBM workers, Fletcher Allen Hospital nurses, teachers, public employees, UVM alumni, local politicians, and other community supporters crowded in front of UVM's administration building while the Board of Trustees met inside. Activists were there to call on the University to "Do the Right Thing" by adopting a Responsible Contractor policy. Before the rally a small delegation went before the Trustees to present this call to them in person, asking that the state's sole public university adopt good employment standards and require them of its contractors too. "Good Jobs for Vermont," a project of the Vermont Workers' Center/JwJ, was jubilant at the huge turnout. Ongoing response to the campaign includes a growing Student Labor Action Project (SLAP), a group of UVM students working to build support for the campaign among their fellow students.
WA State WRB Releases Report on Outsourcing
On December 9th, the Washington State WRB held a hearing on outsourcing and its effects on Pierce and South King County. The hearing featured five local workers from four job exported industries as well as Ashim Roy from the New Trade Union Initiative in India The workers spoke eloquently about the specific impacts of losing their jobs on their families and community, gave an industry analysis of why this is happening, and gave the bleak prospects for retraining and securing another living wage job. Mr. Roy gave testimony on the impact of outsourced jobs to India, both to the workers and to the economy.
Since the hearing, several WRB members including US Rep. Adam Smith, outgoing chair of the House Trade and Commerce Committee Velma Veloria, Pierce County Executive John Ladenburg, Tim Strege, ED of the William M Factory Small Business Incubator, Rick Allen, President of the Pierce County United Way, Rev. Paul Warren, President of the Tacoma Ministerial Alliance, and Derek Kilmer, State Rep. and Business Retention Manager of the Pierce Economic Development Board have come out with Findings and a Resolution to Act which included:
- More statistical information should be collected about how much job exporting is happening and how it affects communities
- Both the government and the private sector should develop local sustainable strategies to address the impact of job exporting.
- The WRB will work to reform how government subsidizes the private sector in order to favor growing businesses that have a track record in investing in stable living wage jobs in their community.
- The WRB will engage business and community leaders who support the resolution to join them in visits with local corporate leaders to discuss balancing the values of profit and sustaining their community.
- The WRB will approach major media outlets to publicize the social impact of job exporting and the solutions put forth in their findings, including an employee involvement model that evaluates and compares alternatives to job exporting on a case-by-case basis.
N. Texas JwJ Joins Delegations to Sky Chef, American Airlines
LSG Sky Chef is one the world's largest airline catering companies, yet the workers suffer from disrespectful treatment and hostile working conditions. American Airlines is the largest customer of LSG Sky Chef in Texas and at Dallas-Ft.Worth International Airport. 780 Sky Chef employees are currently seeking union representation and a collective bargaining agreement with UNITE-HERE. Workers have reached out to the community seeking support for their struggle for respect and fair treatment.
On November 22, 2004, North Texas JwJ was part of a delegation that included Sister Nancy Sullivan, Director for the Diocese of Dallas, Willy Gonzalez, organizer for UNITE-HERE, and others to visit LSG Sky Chef Headquarters in Irving ,Texas. Upon arrival, the delegation was told that no one in management was available, so they left the building with a promise to return. On December 14,2004, the delegation visited American Airlines Corporate office, but were again told that no one was available to meet with them. North Texas JwJ looks forward to supporting these workers as they continue their fight to organize a union with UNITE-HERE.
MEDIA LINKS
