Free Speech Radio News Labor Day Special
On March 8th, 2005, In Louisville Kentucky, a press
conference took place to announce a pay raise for the
workers, and a promise for better working conditions
in the fields of South Florida. But it was also a
defining moment for a greater struggle. A 4 year long
boycott of Taco Bell, an unprecedented strategy of
building alliances with students and religious groups
around the county, and a focus on a specific corporate
entity had proved that the movement for global justice
could organize without a charismatic leader, could
allow groups around the country to work with autonomy,
and most importantly, could win. But the victory over
Taco Bell hasn’t resulted in equality for the Mexican,
Guatemalan, and Haitian tomato pickers in the town of
Immokalee, just as their problems didn’t begin with
Taco Bell. Today, as the United States celebrates
Labor Day, FSRN’s Shannon Young and Andrew Stelzer
bring us the story of the Coalition of Immokalee
Workers, their historic victory over the largest
restaurant owner in the world, and their struggle to
end modern day slavery in the fields.