Festively dressed for the Halloween celebration as tomatoes, a Taco Bell executive, and a migrant farm worker more than half a dozen Maryland Students acted out the roles of oppressor and oppressed, and passed out fliers calling for a boycott of Taco Bell. The action went from about 11:00 in the morning to half past noon and was meant to coincide with the lunch time rush at the on-campus Taco Bell locations. The action started with Aliza Sollins and Setareh Ghandehari, small women dressed in dark red, running through the eating area yelling "Boycott Taco Bell!" After them chased Simon Fitzgerald, wearing torn jeans and a straw hat, joining the chant and occasionally yelling a radical Spanish phrase or two ("Viva la Revolución" o "El pueblo unido, jamás será vencido"... etcétera).

The group met with some immediate resistance as an equally festive, baby-attired employee of the misnamed Student Union (which seems to be more of a facility utilized more as a corporate facility) rushed the actors and seized some literature. However, this initial confusion did not stop the protestors as they handed out the remaining fliers to those in line at the Taco Bell or seated in eating area. Dan Levitan, the Taco Bell executive, argued with Students not to accept the fliers or believe the lies and repeatedly demanded that those working in the area call the police to remove the ¨anarchists and rabble rousers.¨ Meanwhile Simon, the Guatemalan farm hand, demanded ¨que los empleadores nos paguen un salario justo,¨ switching from English to Spanish to outline the troubles of the farm workers, the successes of the CIW and the Student Farmworkes Alliance, and how others could help.

Reactions were mixed. Some were bothered, others seemed uninterested, meanwhile others expressed sympathy, solidarity, apathy and support. A significant minority laughed the protest down saying, ¨the food at Taco Bell is so gross I wouldn't eat there anyway.¨ The fliers, which outlined the troubles, campaigns and demands of the CIW and the students themselves were eye catching and succesful. With graphics and facts supplied by friends at the CIW, the Maryland students taped a penny to the fliers and stated ¨you can afford a penny more,¨ referring to the fact that, for a penny more per Chalupa, farm workers could earn a living wage. ¨Most people see something shiny and simply take the flier before they can dismiss it¨ Senior Jason Castonguay explained.

Interestingly, one group that responded overwhelming positively were the Taco Bell employees themselves. Underpaid and mostly Hispanic, the men and women sympathized with the farm workers described and were happy to see students agitating in their favor. One student's ability to communicate in Spanish helped bridge the cultural gap and explain to the workers what was going on and whose cause the students were taking up. The workers at both Taco Bell locations expressed support and laughed at the guerrilla theatre despite warnings from managers not to talk to the protesters.

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers is an worker's organization that represents farm workers who pick the tomatoes in Immokalee, Florida that end up in Taco Bell burritos and Chalupas. The workers are mostly from rural Mexico, Central America or Haiti. The workers earn 40 cents for each 32 pound bucket of tomatoes that they pick. If one picks a ton of tomatoes in a day, he/she recieves just 50 dollars. Their average annual wage was about 6,500 dollars before the Boycott began in August 2000. They are denied health care, pension, workmen's compensation, and the right to collective bargaining.

The employer of the CIW workers is not Taco Bell. Their employer is Six L's Packing Company which owns the Tomato fields in Florida. However, farm workers are denied the right to organize, except in California where the successes of Cesar Chavez and the UFW forced changes in state laws. Without collective bargaining, CIW has little leverage against Six L's. In turn they are adopting the tactic with which Chavez found so much success, the boycott. Taco Bell is the biggest buyer of the tomatoes. ¨The hope is that if we put pressure on Taco Bell, then they'll put pressure on the growers and say 'hey, figure this out with CIW, or we can't buy from you.¨

The CIW has made some significant gains. In response to student organizing efforts, protests at Gov. Bush's office in Tallahassee, petition gathering, and the Taco Bell Truth Tour in California; Taco Bell finally agreed to meet with CIW representatives. The reps took the opportunity to talk to the marketing director about how the image of fair wages could be used to steal sales from Burger King and ?McDonalds. In addition, a CIW strike reversed an attempt by a local grower to lower the wages it pays from the already low level paid since the seventies, and CIW investigating uncovered a immigrant slavery ring that lead to criminal charges. Lastly, (the fact perhaps most relevant to MAC! members) College and high school students working with the CIW have succeeded at kicking Taco Bell off campus or pressuring administrators to rescind an invitation for Taco Bell to set up shop.

The students enjoyed some press coverage from the campus news paper , but weren't very impressed. ¨I think a lot of the content just got edited out,¨ offered Taco Bell CEO Dan Levitan (see above). The students plan to escalate their tactics and involve other student groups. In addition, they will mail coverage of the action to Taco Bell and the CIW along with warnings and messages of solidarity respectively.

--Maryland Action Collective University of Maryland

For more of what we do see
For info on the CIW and the Boycott the Bell campaign see
For the campus news coverage (boos) see

www.umcp.org