Support of the CIW's (Coalition of Immokalee Workers) Demands for a Living Wage and Decent Working C

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Proposed resolution submitted by the Florida District to the 27th National Convention of the Communist Party USA

WHEREAS: Farm workers in the Florida's tomato-picking industry have been struggling since 1995 for a decent living wage;

WHEREAS: More than half these workers and their children live below the poverty level, on an average income of $7,500.00 annually;

WHEREAS: Florida tomato pickers are paid .40 to .45 cents per 32-lb. bucket which equates to having to pick and haul 2 tons of tomatoes per day to earn $50;

WHEREAS: The Coalition of Immokalee Workers' nation-wide boycott is asking for a raise of only one cent per bushel, which would nearly double their income while resulting in a mere 1/4-cent increase in the cost of a taco;

WHEREAS: Neither Federal nor Florida State law requires growers to negotiate with or recognize a farm workers' union;

WHEREAS: Protests by the farm workers and their supporters are designed to demonstrate consumer support for holding Taco Bell accountable for working conditions of the women and men who pick the tomatoes that top the burritos, tacos and chalupas;

WHEREAS: Taco Bell is a multinational corporation with $5.2 Billion in annual sales, and as part of Tricon, the world's largest restaurant system with $22 Billions in sales annually;

WHEREAS: Taco Bell's tremendous global profits are based on cheap ingredients and cheap labor provided by the farm workers who make sub-poverty wages, thereby subsidizing Taco Bell's profits;

WHEREAS: Farm workers are tired of accepting starvation wages for their labor when Taco Bell is making obscene profits as their expense;

WHEREAS: Boycotts against sweatshop conditions and starvation wages paid by companies such as Nike have won significant reforms;

AND WHEREAS: Florida workers supply most of this country's winter tomato crop, estimated at around $500 million annually;

THEREFORE, We call on the National Convention of the Communist Party USA to join the CIW in demanding that Taco Bell, its parent company, Tricon Global Restaurants, and its tomato supplier, Six L's Farms, sit down and negotiate a living wage and decent working conditions with the representatives of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

Signed: Florida District National Convention, Tampa, FL, April 28, 2001