photo by Greg Pason

On Friday, December 29th, almost thirty people from an alphabet soup of organizations came to hear Marc Rodrigues of the Student-Farmworkers Alliance discuss the current state of the Immokalee farmworkers coalition and their campaign against retail giant McDonalds. A long time organizer with the Left Turn magazine/network as well as campus-based, anti-war and global justice movements, Marc moved to Florida in 2005 to coordinate student support for the Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Marc discussed the history and tactics of the 2005 Taco Bell Boycott victory, the decade long popular struggle of the C.I.W., and what supporters here can do in the impending fight with McDonalds.

Farmworkers in Florida, many recent immigrants, faced sweatshop conditions and modern-day slavery in the fields when they began to organize a decade ago. Beyond the radar of labor unions and political leaders, farmworkers created a grassroots democratic movement, first to demand the end of abuse and basic legal rights. As they flexed their muscles, the C.I.W. discovered that action against the corporate farms and labor subcontractors only took them so far. Prices and labor conditions were being set by the big food retailers, forever pushing lower costs for the already cheap tomatoes.

By going after Yum Brands and their Taco Bell restaurants, the C.I.W. was able to win the single penny a pound rate increase that doubled their wages. But that single corporation only accounts for small slice of farmworkers pay, and workers still must fill over 150 bushel baskets a day to make a poverty wage of seven thousand dollars a year. Workers themselves have decided that McDonalds should be the next target. Taco Bell fought for over three years to avoid the C.I.W.'s demands, and already McDonalds is more interested in hiring PR firms than even talking to the farmworkers.

Marc stressed the protest, boycott, and popular education tactics that won out over Taco Bell were a huge burden on the Immokalee community, but one they were willing to bear again. And to win, they need us to put pressure on McDonalds in our communities.

In New York City, you can get involved with Fair Food NYC, an independent solidarity group coordinating with the SFA. Check out fairfoodnyc.org, or come pitch in at our next meeting.

Nationally and internationally, groups can sign on to the Fair Food Alliance at allianceforfairfood.org. Students can start chapters of the Student-Farmworker Alliance (sfalliance.org) with the help of activists in Immokalee, and everyone can get in touch with the farmworkers directly at ciw-online.org.

The next meeting of FFNYC is January 23rd, 6pm, at 339 Lafayette St. buzzer #11 NYC (corner of Bleecker & Lafayette Sts, by the 7 train Bleeker street station, one block north of Houston), or e-mail fairfoodnyc(at)gmail.com .

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