MONDAY, AUGUST 2, PAX CHRISTI USA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ACTION 11:30-1:30 pm, Taco Bell, 3595 Biscayne Blvd Miami, FL 33137 Pax Christi USA will join the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW) in a local action as part of the nationwide Taco Bell Boycott. The CIW is boycotting Taco Bell to protest the wages and conditions suffered by farmworkers in the tomato fields of Southwest Florida. Leaders of the CIW were recently awarded the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights Award for their anti-slavery work and the Taco Bell Boycott. Since Pax Christi Naples, along with the CIW and PC Miami, is organizing this event, we’d like to extend a special invitation to our friends in Naples, Ft. Myers and elsewhere to join us for this streetcorner protest which promises to be a colorful assembly of people, art, puppets, speakers, prayer service, free food, handouts and more. Background information: Farmworkers picking tomatoes used in Taco Bell foods earn only 40˘ for every 32-pound bucket. That’s the same price as in 1978. A worker must pick 2 TONS of tomatoes to earn $50 in one day. With this wage they earn less than $7,500 a year, far below poverty level. They are denied the right to organize and receive no overtime pay, no sick leave, nor any other benefits. Taco Bell could double farmworkers’ wages by paying just one penny more per pound for the tomatoes it buys. Taco Bell and its parent company Yum! Brands form the largest fast-food chain in the world and can easily afford to pay one penny more.