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Taco Bell update |
| "We'd rather go hungry than
eat sweatshop tacos!" [2-5-03]
The boycott of Taco Bell was approved by
the 214th General Assembly. This information, from the
Campaign for Labor Rights,
Washington, DC, offers a helpful update and possibilities for action.
Check out the latest report, as
the fast enters its second week, with
Presbyterians among those fasting for justice. [3-4-03]
ORGANIZE AND MOBILIZE your community to
converge on Taco Bell headquarters (Irvine, CA) for the national hunger
strike and demonstration from February 24-28, 2003!
On February 24, 2003, farm workers from the
Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) and their student, religious, and labor
allies will begin an historic hunger strike outside Taco Bell headquarters
in Irvine, CA. Highlighting the injustice of fast food profits derived, in
significant part, from farm workers? starvation wages, the hunger strike
will send a powerful message to executives at one of the world's largest
fast food corporations: END SWEATSHOPS IN THE FIELDS NOW!
From February 24 to February 28, 2003,
hunger strikers will stand vigil at Taco Bell headquarters, while a caravan
of workers and allies head south from Sacramento, CA, stopping at colleges
and other communities to spread word of the hunger strike through teach-ins
and protests at local Taco Bell restaurants. [If you live in California and
want to know if the tour is coming to your town - or to host an event in
your community - please visit the CIW website at
www.ciw-online.org.]
At the same time, solidarity fasts and
protests will take place across the country, leading up to the national day
of convergence at Taco Bell headquarters on Friday, February 28th.
Increasingly, campus-based groups are
succeeding in booting Taco Bell off their campuses, convincing
administrators that the fast food corporation is a bad business decision. At
the University of Chicago, the Anti-Sweatshop Coalition is working with the
student government and administration to replace Taco Bell on campus. And in
Pomona, CA, the CIW recently visited the Cal Polytechnic University, sharing
their experiences of working long hours for little pay and no benefits; the
campaign has so far succeeded in convincing students to eat elsewhere on
campus.
Similar campaigns and actions are gaining
momentum on campuses throughout the United States. The Student-Farmworker
Alliance (www.sfalliance.org) and
the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (www.ciw-online.org)
are spearheading the "Boot the Bell" campaign. Check out their websites to
download organizing packets that can help you launch a campaign in your
community.
The list of campaign endorsers has also
grown to include Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed, as
well as When Corporations Rule the World author, David Korten.
Your PARTICIPATION is CRUCIAL. Here's
what you can do:
 | Send representatives from your school,
religious, union, or community organization to fast in solidarity with
Immokalee tomato pickers for the week beginning February 24, 2003 |
| Mobilize your community to join the
Friday, February 28, 2003 national convergence outside of the Taco Bell
headquarters |
| Organize solidarity fasts, protests, and
rallies in your local community the week of February 24th |
| E-MAIL OR CALL the Coalition of
Immokalee Workers (CIW) to discuss your involvement either in Irvine, CA
or in your community -
workers@ciw-online.org, (239) 657-8311 To learn how your community can
launch a ?Boot the Bell? campaign, please also visit the Student-Farmworker
Alliance, www.sfalliance.org. For
background information on the campaign, please visit the Campaign for
Labor Rights,
www.campaignforlaborrights.org. |
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we hope you'll help us keep Voices for Justice going ... and
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Some blogs worth visiting |
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PVJ's
Facebook page
Mitch Trigger, PVJ's
Secretary/Communicator, has created a Facebook page where
Witherspoon members and others can gather to exchange news and
views. Mitch and a few others have posted bits of news, both
personal and organizational. But there’s room for more!
You can post your own news and views,
or initiate a conversation about a topic of interest to you. |
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Voices of Sophia blog
Heather Reichgott, who has created
this new blog for Voices of Sophia, introduces it:
After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
students, exiles, missionaries, workers, thinkers, artists, lovers
and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
in whose image women are made. .... This blog seeks to glorify God
through prayer, work, art, and intellectual reflection. Through
articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
thoughtful community. |
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John Harris’ Summit to
Shore blogspot
Theological and philosophical
reflections on everything between summit to shore, including
kayaking, climbing, religion, spirituality, philosophy, theology,
politics, culture, travel, The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), New
York City and the Queens neighborhood of Ridgewood by a progressive
New York City Presbyterian Pastor. John is a former member of the
Witherspoon board, and is designated pastor of North Presbyterian
Church in Flushing, NY. |
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
A Presbyterian minister, currently
serving as pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethton,
Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
and disorganized), life, evolution, literature, Jesus, and
lightening up. |
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Got more blogs to recommend?
Please
send a note, and we'll see what we can do! |
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