NCC endorses boycotts of Taco Bell, Mt. Olive Pickles
11/11/2003 News media contact: Linda Bloom · (646) 369-3759 · New York
By United Methodist News Service*
For the first time in more than 15 years, the National Council of Churches of Christ has endorsed consumer boycotts.
The decision to immediately join boycotts against Taco Bell and Mt. Olive Pickle products occurred during the council's general assembly, Nov. 4-6, in Jackson, Miss. The ecumenical organization has 36 member denominations, including the United Methodist Church, and represents some 50 million U.S. Christians in 140,000 local congregations.
Previously, the National Council of Churches endorsed a boycott in May 1988 against Royal Dutch/Shell Oil because of the company's connections to the apartheid system in South Africa.
The boycott against Taco Bell was called in March 2001 by the Coalition of Immokalee (Fla.) Workers after the company refused to address charges of exploitation in the fields of its tomato suppliers, particularly Six L's Packing Co., one of the largest U.S. tomato growers.
Three denominations in the council - the Presbyterian Church USA, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ - along with the American Friends Service Committee, had previously supported the boycott.
According to coalition leaders, the boycott will remain in effect until the company "convenes serious three-way talks" among the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, Taco Bell representatives and tomato suppliers. Boycott leaders are also calling for Taco Bell to work with the others "to establish a code of conduct" to ensure fundamental labor rights. The coalition, representing some 3,500 farm workers in southwest Florida, seeks higher farm worker wages through an increase in the per-bucket rate paid for tomatoes.
The Rev. Noelle Damico, national coordinator of the boycott, reported that Six L's Packing Co. pays 40 cents for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes, making the company the lowest-paying grower. The highest-paying grower gives 50 cents per bucket. If the pay scale had kept pace with inflation, farm workers would be earning about 75 cents a bucket today, coalition leaders said.
The council also agreed to support the Farm Labor Organizing Committee boycott of products produced by the Mt. Olive Pickle Co., based in Mt. Olive, N.C. The consumer boycott, begun in March 1999, was previously supported by the United Church of Christ, Alliance of Baptists and the American Friends Service Committee, along with some 300 other organizations.
In its Sept. 11-14 meeting, the United Methodist Board of Church and Society debated joining in the boycott against the Mt. Olive Pickle Co. The board's Peace with Justice Work Area recommended that directors authorize the board's executive committee to join the boycott if further progress is not made by early 2004.
Farm workers have been unsuccessful in convincing Mt. Olive management to participate in negotiations to improve the wages and working conditions of workers who produce the cucumbers processed by the North Carolina company. Mt. Olive is the nation's largest independent pickle producer and the second largest processor of pickles and related products.
The Rev. Bob Edgar, a United Methodist pastor who serves as the National Council of Churches' chief staff executive, pointed out after the votes that even good economic systems could be improved.
"We must never build an economic system at the expense of the weak, at the expense of the poor, at the expense of those persons in our society who provide us the very food we eat and clothes we wear," he said.
In other business, the NCCC general assembly:
· Installed Christian Methodist Episcopal Bishop Thomas J. Hoyt Jr. as president for 2004-5. · Established an ecumenical "Human Genetics Policy Development Committee" to educate church members about human genetic technologies and to develop a new policy addressing issues raised by recent significant changes in science and society. · Adopted a resolution on "The Church and Public School," urging council members to increase support of public education, such as working to bridge the achievement gap between rich and poor schools and addressing the segregation of public schools over the past 12 years. · Approved a resolution on the Middle East conflict that calls for dismantling the "separation wall" being constructed between Israel and the West Bank.
More information on the 2003 general assembly is available at www.ncccusa.org online.
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*The NCCC Communications Office provided information for this report.
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