Immokalee workers join in capital Taco Bell pickets
Monday, February 26, 2001

By MICHAEL PELTIER, Tallahassee Correspondent

TALLAHASSEE — Farmworkers and their supporters brought their protest to the state capital Sunday as they picketed a Taco Bell franchise and called for a boycott to pressure the national chain into raising the price it pays for South Florida tomatoes.

While a handful of local law enforcement officers looked on, nearly 100 protesters shut down business for nearly two hours Sunday afternoon at the group's third stop in a series of pickets aimed at focusing awareness on worker pay.

"For my work I am paid very little," said Ellias Perez, picker from Immokalee. "Taco Bell could help workers by paying just a little bit more."

More than 60 members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers made the trek from Collier County to Tallahassee to take part in the picket and an informational forum held Saturday evening.

On Sunday, Passersby appeared either ambivalent or supportive of the picket, which included marchers dressed in papier mache masks, and placards containing slogans such as "We feed America" to "No Yo quiero Taco Bell" (I don't want Taco Bell), a negative spin-off of the company's successful national advertising campaign.

Many passing motorists honked horns in a sign of support or chose not to cross the picket line. Only two passing drivers appeared to shout derogatory statements at the group.

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Student groups from Florida State University and FAMU and Tallahassee members of the Green Party joined in Sunday's picket in what participants said was a show of solidarity for farmworker issues and a means to build cooperation among the groups.

"One of our top 10 issues is social justice," said local Green Party member David Baucum. "We have people who are putting food on our tables who are not making adequate wages. That is a social justice issue."

Tallahassee is the third stop on the group's four-city schedule to raise awareness over worker issues. The group has already held similar pickets in Gainesville and St. Petersburg. The Coalition is planning a final picket next weekend in Miami.

Sunday's march went off without incident. Taco Bell managers on site would not allow journalists covering the event into the store to seek comment from employees or customers.

Outside, police prohibited protesters from walking on company property, a decision that forced marchers, which included women with young children, to crowd onto a sidewalk only a few feet away from Monroe Street, one of Tallahassee's busiest thoroughfares.

Local television stations and a few newspapers covered the event, as well as a camera crew from the BBC. Britain's preeminent broadcast network is planning to air a story on the protests later this week.