‘Not to Put Taco Bell Out of Business, But To Put Justice in Business’

CSC News & Reflections
Fall 2004

Melody Gonzalez, Kamaria Porter, and about twenty other students stood on the corner of Lafayette Boulevard and LaSalle Street outside a South Bend Taco Bell restaurant.

“What do we want?” they chanted, “Justice! And when do we want it? Now!”

More specifically, the students wanted Taco Bell to address unfair labor standards and wages for the migrant workers who pick tomatoes for the chain. And while they were at it, they wanted Notre Dame to terminate a sponsorship agreement it had with the company.

While this initiative came from student organizing and activism, one of the sparks was the Center for Social Concerns Migrant Experiences Seminar.

Designed to introduce students to the cultural and social issues surrounding migrant farm labor, the Migrant Experiences Seminar sends students for a weeklong immersion into the farming region of Immokalee, Florida.

Often, students form friendships with the workers, picking tomatoes side-by-side in the fields, sweating, toiling, and getting to know the daily frustrations and challenges that come from slowly filling buckets with tomatoes.

They also learn that migrant workers receive no benefits, have no right to organize and typically earn 40-45 cents per 32-pound bucket of tomatoes.

Indeed, they see firsthand why the Coalition for Immokalee Workers (CIW), a Florida community-based organization of farm workers, contends that these conditions constitute “sweatshops in the fields.”

Students also learn that CIW has helped the Department of Justice prosecute five cases where migrant workers were held at gunpoint, guarded 24 hours per day, paid less than $40 per week, and brutally beaten when they tried to escape.

“We hope that our seminars and programs will inspire students to work for social change,” said Jay Brandenberger, director of Experiential Learning. “We don’t always know what students will do with what they learn, but we hope it affects them in such a way that they take action.”

However, if the Migrant Experiences Seminar helped educate students about the migrant worker issues, the catalyst was a student organization called the Progressive Student Alliance, which has worked aggressively to address the labor practices of the fruit growers.

“Our boycott is a matter of justice,” Dana Stovall, a senior and active member of PSA, explained, “It is a call for corporations like Taco Bell – part of the largest restaurant conglomerate – to wake up. Our concern is not to put Taco Bell out of business, but to put justice in business.”

It is important to note that the mistreatment of migrant workers does not come directly from Taco Bell or its parent company. Taco Bell, like most restaurants, purchases its tomatoes from growers who pay the migrant workers. However, the students argue that Taco Bell can pressure growers to improve conditions and wages paid to migrant workers.

In a statement, Taco Bell said “The CIW is seeking higher wages for the farm workers and wants us to put pressure on the growers, but we buy so few tomatoes from them, that we’re not in a position to influence their decisions.”

Brigitte Gynther, a former student who now works for the CIW, disagrees with the restaurant’s argument of detachment, saying that they can also play a larger role in labor disputes between tomato providers and migrant workers.

“Major buyers do have power to impose regulations,” Gynther, said. “Taco Bell only needs to charge 1/4 cent more per item to pay a penny more per pound of tomatoes – the target figure to achieve and exceed minimum wage.”

A key focus for the students was to ensure that the University administration refuse to do business with Taco Bell. When students learned that the University was considering renewing a sponsorship agreement with Taco Bell franchises, they began to pressure the administration to let the contract lapse until the company addressed the labor practices.

As a Catholic institution – student Melody Gonzalez insisted – the University should adhere to Catholic doctrine and social teaching, regarding the value of work, the importance of worker’s rights, and the right to a living wage – even in its business arrangements. “They must live the words they preach,” Gonzalez said.

With the protest in full swing, the University’s General Counsel agreed to meet with PSA students. The University attorneys studied the materials provided by the PSA, then requested a clarification of company policies. Based on Taco Bell’s response, the University resolved during the summer not to renew their sponsorship agreement.

The students “deserve a lot of credit for bringing up these issues, doing the research and carrying on the discussion in a very responsible and studied way,” said Matt Storin, university spokesman.

Or as Kamaria Porter said quoting Margaret Mead, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”