Correction appended
Last week, the Associated Students of UCLA rejected Taco
Bell’s request for more time to complete a report on working
conditions of tomato pickers in Florida, holding the eatery to an
agreement made with the university in December.
In a letter dated April 21, the restaurant asked ASUCLA
Executive Director Bob Williams for a 30-day extension, which would
move the deadline for the report to May 30.
The April 30 deadline includes a 10-day grace period,
effectively making the due date May 10.
But in its monthly meeting, the ASUCLA board of directors
decided to deny the request, as many members of the board were
skeptical as to whether Taco Bell was making progress toward its
promise to produce a report.
“What good is it to give you 30 days if you’re not
doing anything?” asked Doug Hecox, alumni representative on
the board.
Laurie Schalow, spokeswoman for Taco Bell, was on vacation and
could not be reached for comment.
Taco Bell ran into trouble fall quarter when student activists
complained of poor working conditions for tomato pickers in the
Immokalee region of Florida, a location that provides tomatoes for
the fast food eatery.
ASUCLA responded in December by giving Taco Bell an
ultimatum:
Hire a third-party investigator to examine the Immokalee
workers’ situation and compile a report on its findings, or
face losing its contract.
The board agreed as a whole that Williams should call Taco Bell
to tell them “an extension is not reasonable,” and that
the five months granted by the original deadline should have been
adequate.
Taco Bell did not give a reason in its letter for requesting the
extension.
Dria Fern, chairwoman of ASUCLA’s services committee, said
she wasn’t surprised Taco Bell submitted a request for more
time, and said she isn’t sure what to expect on April 30.
“I think we’ll have something. I’m not sure
about the quality of the report,” Fern said.
The investigator must be approved by the Coalition of Immokalee
Workers, a worker’s rights organization based in Florida.
Taco Bell must also prove it is in compliance with the University
of California’s code of conduct as well as its own.
Based on the report, the board will then decide by the end of
the school year whether to renew the restaurant’s
contract.
Brian Payne, an organizer who works closely with the CIW, said
Taco Bell still hasn’t contacted the CIW, and said he
didn’t think the eatery would produce a report at all.
“They know that there’s no way they can meet the
standards for the code of conduct,” Payne said.
Serving about a thousand UCLA customers a day, Taco Bell is one
of the most popular eateries on campus, second only to Panda
Express.
Correction: April 28, 2004,
Wednesday
In “Taco Bell deadline extension denied” (News,
April 26), Dria Fearn’s name was misspelled.