Taco Bell failed to submit a report on tomato pickers’
working conditions by Monday, breaking an agreement made with UCLA
nearly six months ago and threatening the popular eatery’s
future on campus.
The Associated Students of UCLA ““ which manages Taco Bell
and other on-campus restaurants ““ told the fastfood giant to
investigate complaints of unfair labor practices originating from
employees of the restaurant’s tomato suppliers.
The tomato pickers, located in the Immokalee region of Florida,
complained of low wages, poor working conditions and being forced
to work overtime without pay.
Laurie Schalow, spokeswoman for Taco Bell, said earlier last
month that the restaurant was on target to have the report in by
the deadline.
But Bob Williams, interim executive director of ASUCLA, said
Monday that the association, which originally requested the report
in December, had not received anything from Taco Bell.
Without the report, Taco Bell faces losing its contract to
operate on campus.
Schalow confirmed that Taco Bell had not submitted a report as
of early Monday afternoon, but said she was scheduled to speak on
the phone with Williams to discuss the situation and declined
further comment. She could not be reached at the end of the
day.
The Mexican eatery had also asked the ASUCLA board of directors
for a 30-day extension on the report’s deadline three weeks
ago but declined to state a reason why. The association denied the
request, with several board members critical of the
restaurant’s progress on its promise.
Under the agreement, Taco Bell was supposed to hire a
third-party investigator approved by the Coalition of Immokalee
Workers, a worker’s rights organization that is also
spearheading a boycott against the restaurant.
But as of Monday, Nick Laskowski, a volunteer with the
coalition, said Taco Bell has had no contact with CIW regarding the
situation at UCLA.
“Taco Bell is not interested in talking to us. They
haven’t been, and they won’t be,” Laskowski
said.
While he said he isn’t surprised that Taco Bell
hasn’t contacted the CIW, Laskowski said he had hoped the
restaurant would be more responsive to the issues facing
UCLA’s location.
Roy Champawat, associate director of on-campus restaurants,
noted Taco Bell’s request for an extension three weeks ago as
a consideration for the report’s failure to be submitted.
“I know they had asked for a little more time, so
obviously they were a little pressed,” Champawat said.
Taco Bell is one of the most popular eating establishments on
campus, serving more than 1,000 customers per day.
Students at other universities across the country, including
Notre Dame and the University of Florida, have held multi-day
hunger strikes to support the removal of the restaurant on their
own campuses.