To:  NFWM supporters
From:  Virginia Nesmith
 
Following is an action alert from the Coalition of Immokalee Workers about
their National Day of Fasting Next Thursday, May 20th. Please join this
action and, as this short notice allows,  call on your constituents to do
the same.  Rather than giving notice to CIW of your participation, please
let us know (nfwm@nfwm.org) and we will inform CIW. Thank you very much for
your solidarity.
 
"We fast today so that we may taste justice for farmworkers tomorrow!"

Farmworkers call for National Day of Fasting Next Thursday, May 20th!

Join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers in their protest against Taco Bell's
parent company, Yum! Brands, during its annual shareholder meeting on
Thursday, May 20th

Yum! Brands Shareholder Action - Louisville, KY

The Coalition of Immokalee Workers will make the 1000-mile trek from
Immokalee, FL, to Louisville, KY, to hold an all-day fast and action at Yum!
Brands annual shareholder meeting, calling on the world's largest fast-food
company to use its buying power to help clean up human rights abuses in its
supply chain.  From 8am to 5pm on Thursday, May 20th, farmworkers and their
allies will fast, hold a major press conference, and join with local and
national religious leaders for a prayer vigil outside of Yum! Brands
headquarters.

If you live anywhere within several hours of Louisville, please consider
making the trek out to the action!  Food and housing will be provided, and
rides are available from many areas - just e-mail workers@ciw-online.org for
more details. 

National Day of Fasting for Farmworker Justice
Even if you can't make it to Louisville, farmworkers are calling on YOU to
help put pressure on Yum! Brands by joining in a NATIONAL DAY of FASTING for
Farmworker Justice!  By pledging to go without food on Thursday, May 20th,
you will send a powerful message to Yum! Brands!  Outside of the shareholder
meeting, the CIW will display the names of the hundreds of allies who commit
to fast in solidarity with them.  To sign up, please send your name,
organiztion, city, and a brief statement of solidarity (optional) to
workers@ciw-online.org by Tuesday, May 18th in order to be included in this
impressive and historic list! 

JOIN the CIW in a critical time in their campaign - the Taco Bell Boycott
has celebrated its 3-year anniversary with a monstrous "Taco Bell Truth
Tour", an unprecedented national wave of student hunger strikes, and, just
last week, the endorsement of the 8-million strong United Methodists. 

Come be a part of history!!
 
Background
Yum Brands is Taco Bell's parent company, along with Pizza Hut, KFC, Long
John Silvers, and A&W Restaurants.  Yum's five national brands make it the
largest restaurant company in the world... yes, larger than McDonalds!  As
such, it has tremendous power and responsibility to help clean up labor
abuses in its supply chain, but to date Yum has refused to take meaningful
steps to improve labor standards for the thousands of farmworkers who toil
in sweatshop conditions to pick the tomatoes that go into Taco Bell's
products. 

That's why members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and their allies
will travel once again this coming May 20th to Louisville, KY for the annual
shareholder meeting at Yum Brands' headquarters, where last year a whopping
43% of Yum's shareholders voted in favor of a resolution in support of
farmworkers' demands.

Farmworker allies in Louisville will hold a week-long series of rolling
fasts outside of Yum! Brands headquarters building up to May 20th,
continuing the fasts begun by students fighting to "Boot the Bell" from
campuses around the country earlier this spring. 
Please visit the CIW website (www.ciw-online.org) for updates and more
information!

 
***************
Susan Alan
Resource Coordinator
National Farm Worker Ministry
438 N. Skinker Blvd. ~ St. Louis, MO 63130
314-726-6470 fax: 314-726-6427