Protesters starve for tomato workers

By Youmi Chun

Daily Bruin Contributor

[email protected]

A group of protesters gathered outside Taco Bell headquarters in
Irvine this week as part of a weeklong hunger strike demanding
better wages and working conditions for tomato workers in
Florida.

Around 65 people from various pro-worker groups, including
representatives from the UCLA chapter of United Students Against
Sweatshops, set up a virtual campsite as activists in cities
nationwide assembled at the same time to fast in solidarity with
workers.

Protesters said they are targeting Taco Bell rather than farm
owners because they feel the restaurant chain would be more
inclined to listen to their pleas.

“(Taco Bell) is one of the major buyers of the tomatoes,
and has a lot of influence,” said Limber Hernandez, a member
of the Coalition of Immokalee workers, a union of Florida tomato
growers.

Participants hope to convene a meeting between Taco Bell, tomato
growers in Florida and the workers, to discuss the demands set
forth by the coalition.

The weeklong fast will end with a rally scheduled to happen
today which organizers speculate will gather thousands of
supporters.

Eric Schlosser, author of “Fast Food Nation” as well
as Tom Morello, former Rage Against the Machine guitarist, will be
among the speakers.

The working conditions were  described as “generally
bad conditions,” because workers are treated with a lack of
respect and sometimes not given breaks.

Lobbyists are demanding an increase in worker wages, meaning
growers would pay one penny more per pound of tomatoes, potentially
doubling wages.

USAS member Suzan Luu, a fifth-year sociology and Asian American
studies student, feels that workers are not asking for much.

“Since 1978, workers wages have not been raised,”
she said.

According to Hernandez, workers currently earn about 40 cents
for every 32 pounds of tomatoes they haul, and would thus be paid
32 cents more if demands were met. Tomato pickers make $7,000-7,500
annually, a figure well beneath the poverty line.

Protesters are optimistic about the outcome of the strike.

“In just a year and a half, they have moved incredibly far
(and) with students organizing and protesting, it will be
effective,” said Brian Payne, one of the organizers of the
strike and a representative of the Student Farmworker Alliance.

As part of the protest, a caravan of farm workers and protesters
has been travelling south from Sacramento, stopping along the way
to educate communities through protests and teach-ins.

UCLA-based members of USAS hope to spread awareness of this
matter by encouraging students and community supporters to get
involved in the rally.

Luu said students can also support the strike by not eating at
Taco Bell.

“Our aim is to educate students here, mainly draw
attention to Taco Bell and what’s been going on and let them
know they can make a difference,” she said.

“It doesn’t feel like there is much support out
there right now, because not many people know what’s going
on,” added third-year biochemistry student Danny Yass,
another USAS member.

Nathan Lam, a second-year anthropology student and a member of
USAS, took a break from classes to participate in the weeklong
campout.

Lam said the tomato pickers work in “bondage-like
conditions” and suffer outrageous violations of their
rights.

“Even though it is distant, we should try to make a
difference,” he said. “I think that there’s a
good chance that (the protest) will work.”